Meisselbach, A.F. & Bro. and Manufacturing Co.

A. F. Meisselbach, the son of German immigrants, designed his first fishing reel in 1885. At the tender age of 20 he received a patent on this reel, and then convinced A. G. Spalding & Bros. to sell the reel for him. This reel was a simple single action reel, that we call the Amateur. Demand was brisk, and "Gus" soon convinced his brother, William, to go into the business with him, and their Newark, NJ garage was soon humming with machine work. In 1888 they expanded their line rapidly, and moved into a larger machine shop. That year they added the Expert Reel, the Universal Rod Holder, and their famous line of Spring Bow nets.

In 1896 more innovative reels were added to their inventory, with the Allright and the raised pillar Featherlight fly reels. At this time they also moved into a new three story factory. Sales boomed, and soon A.F. Meisselbach & Bro. was one of the largest manufacturers of fishing reels in the country. However, the boom was yet to come. From the beginning, their products were of the finest quality, but very inexpensive. They were all aimed toward the average working man.

In the early 1900s, the Meisselbach brothers patented their most famous product, the Takapart reel, and shortly thereafter it’s smaller brother, the Tripart reel. The initial Takaparts were called "Take-Apart", and were not the familiar tube frame reel that we usually think of when talking about Takaparts or Triparts.

A.F. Meisselbach & Brother finally incorporated in the state of New Jersey in 1906. Until this date they had not stamped their own name on any of the reels or accessories that they were selling. Many of the reels were stamped with model names or patent dates, and these are the only identifying marks left to identify your early reels.

Sales boomed from 1900 to 1917. There were over 75 employees in their factory, and their products were sold all over the U.S. and Europe. They were also in the general machining business, and were one of the largest manufacturers of phonograph parts in the east.

In 1917 the A.F. Meisselbach & Bro. Corporation was sold to the Otto Heineman Phonograph Supply Co. of New York City. Heineman changed the name to A.F. Meisselbach Mfg. Co., and moved the company headquarters to NYC. Gus and William retired to the NJ coast and spent their time surf fishing. William died in 1919, and Gus died in 1927 at 61 years of age.

Heineman trimmed the Meisselbach reel line to the basic models, and in 1921 the reel tooling and production was moved to another factory in Elyria, Ohio. In 1925 the parent company name was changed to General Industries. Some collectible reels came from Ohio, most notably the Okeh series. However, the great depression of the 1930s brought about a lowering of quality, and the great old reels of A.F. Meisselbach & Bro. disappeared from the lineup one by one.

With the advent of World War II, General Industries turned their production to war materials, and all fishing reel production was stopped in 1941, and was not resumed after the war. This was the end of the Meisselbach name on quality fishing tackle. It was also the end of the name Meisselbach in the U.S. since Gus, married late in life, had no children. William was a life-long bachelor, so there were no descendants left to carry on the name.

If you are interested in more information about Meisselbach Reels, you can check out the following pages: