The "little known" Jaleoxe Reel
One of the more popular reels
appearing on the well known internet auction eBay, is the Jaleoxe reel. From
an obscure manufacturer in the 1930-50 period, this reel came in several
configurations. All 
were
level winding baitcasters or salt water reels, and all were manufactured in
Bronson, Michigan. The bait casters in particular were well made, and seem
highly popular with eBay bidders. The salt water models seem to be slower
movers unless they are from the early period of the company.
The first I ever heard of the Jaleoxe reel was when my wife called me
from a yard sale about 25 years ago, and said that they had a pretty nice
reel called a “Jaleoxe” at the sale, and did I want it? Like a good husband,
I said “yes dear”, and didn’t tell her that I had never heard of a Jaleoxe.
The next time I heard of the little known Jaleoxe was when reel
historian, and ORCA Director, Steve Vernon posted a note on Angler’s Online
message board a couple of years ago asking if anyone knew what a Jaleoxe
reel was. Wow! The man who can describe the way a reel functions in a way
guaranteed to totally confuse me; the man who counts the number of teeth in
the pinion gear to tell whether a Milam was made in 1882 or 1884; he didn’t
know about the Jaleoxe. He probably thinks I forgot about that posting and
the email he sent me.
Of course Steve soon was deluged by emails explaining that a Jaleoxe was
a J. A. Coxe. All the other guys who had made the same mistake were
all there with their raspberries.
I don’t know if Coxe collectors search Jaleoxe on eBay, but they should.
On April 15, 2000 if you searched Coxe you came up with eight reels that
were up for sale. If you searched Jaleoxe there were two. However there was
also one under Jaleoye, and one in the box that was listed as a Galeoxe.
Talk about a lousy logo! Bronson should have immediately fired the
commercial artist that designed the nameplate for that reel. However, I’m
sure it looked very modern and had an art deco flair to match the thirties.
I don’t know if the very first reels used that logo.
It is apparent that the J. A. Coxe fresh water casting reel logo was not
a good one. If you’re not a reel collector you might get confused. And then…
even if you are one, you still might not recognize the little known Jaleoxe.
However, it makes for interesting bidding on eBay.
Phil White
