1955

[Fishfishwish]

I just got the reel recently. Been getting into acquiring and restoring old reels and learning the history of the companies that made them. Quite interesting stuff. It all started when my wife got me an old Abu 5000 for my birthday. It's her fault!

This reel was made by Airex. Airex was one of, if not the USA leader in spinning fishing equipment in late 40s and into the 50s. The company was at one time part of the Lionel (of toy train fame) company. They had some sort of agreement with a gentleman named Bache Brown, who is considered the father of spinning fishing the USA. Bache Brown imported some European spinning reels (Luxor, if I recall correctly) in the 30s and 40s. Airex had a wide range of spinning reels, rod, terminal tackle and lures by the mid-50s. The Apache was their entry level reel, selling for $9.55 in their 1955 catalog. Their most expensive reel in that catalog was the Larchmont and it sold for $25. Not cheap in 1955!



I haven't learned what became of the Airex corporation. I don't think that it's still around or in the fishing business today. There is a book on the company available from Whitefish Press. There's also a book on Bache Brown.

A Collector's Guide to Bache Brown and Airex/Lionel Fishing Tackle

Bache Hamilton Brown: The Father of Spin Fishing in America

I have two other reels from Airex:

The Bache Brown Master Reel


The Spinster (pre resto, haven't taken any shots since I've cleaned it up).


These two are half-bail beauties that harken to the 40s and earlier. The Spinster first came out in 1949 but was made in various versions well into the 50s (even had full bail versions). Same for the Master Reel.

I have quite a few other old reels that I won't bore you with. My goal is to catch at least one fish with all of them. Most will be put up on the shelf for show and only used occasionally. The really clean ones will probably never get used. Some, like my trusty Mitchell 309 (1963/65) and Abu 5000C (1969) will see more action. Anyway, it's lots of fun messing with these pieces of history. I bet some could tell some great stories, if they could talk.