Meisselbach-Catucci Reels
The Meisselbach-Catucci Corporation was founded in 1910 by A. F. Meisselbach
and Pliny Catucci. Catucci was an Italian immigrant who worked for the
Meisselbach brothers. He was a great inventor, and held many of the patents on
Meisselbach reels. He also held many patents for phonograph designs and parts.
The Meisselbach-Catucci Corporation was started to do the custom machine work
business (mainly gear manufacturing) for the Meisselbach’s. M-C also built and
sold the Meisselbach-Catucci Gear Hobbing machine. This company was located in
Newark, NJ in a building back to back with the A. F. Meisselbach & Bro.
facility.
Meisselbach-Catucci was not engaged in reel manufacturing until after the
sale of A. F. Meisselbach & Bro. to the Heineman Phonograph Supply Co. When
A. F. Meisselbach Mfg. Co. was moved to Elyria, Ohio in 1921, Pliny Catucci
decided the Meisselbach-Catucci gear cutting business would expand into fishing
reel manufacturing. Many of the reelsmiths from the A. F. Meisselbach Co. went
to work for Catucci.
In 1922, Catucci came out with a pair of casting reels, called "Symplopart"
Reels; one a non level wind, and the other a level wind reel. By 1924 his
Stanton Street factory was making free spool and anti-backlash reels as well,
and in 1926 he added a line of Bakelite fly reels. All the Meisselbach-Catucci
reels were well designed, and machined.
By the late 1920s the Meisselbach-Catucci Reel Company was one of the major
manufacturers of bait casting reels in the United States, and had a reputation
for value and quality. The whole Catucci family was involved in the business,
with Pliny’s sons William in charge of sales, and Walter working in the
factory. Disaster then struck in the form of the crash of ’29, and the
resulting depression caught up to the Catucci's. The reel company was sold to
the Bronson Reel Company, of Bronson, Michigan in 1931.
Bronson continued to manufacture the full line of Meisselbach-Catucci reels
with no changes. They even still had the Newark, NJ address on them. Some of the
Bronson M-C fly reels are stamped "Mfd by Bronson Reel Co. since June
1931" on the foot. Otherwise, it is very difficult to distinguish a New
Jersey reel from a Michigan reel.
The high quality bait casting reels became a casualty of the depression, and
were dropped from Bronson catalogs in the mid ’30s. The fly reels lasted until
World War II, and then were gone when Bronson returned to reel making following
the war.
Some Boxed Meisselbach-Catucci Reels:
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A pair of boxed Symploparts. The #250 on the left was the
very first version of Meisselbach-Catucci's first reel. On the right is
a Symplopart #252. They have great boxes with the picture on the top. |
 |
A pair of level wind Symploreels. On the left is a #257,
and on the right a #252. These reels all came with labeled cloth bags
and a pocket catalog in the box. |
 |
A Meisselbach-Catucci Blackstone #552. This reel came out
in the late 1920s, and is quite a handsome reel with it's black "Catucite"
(reinforced Bakelite) head and tail plates. Bronson continued
manufacturing this reel into the later half of the 1930s. |
 |
Three different sized Meisselbach-Catucci Symploreel Fly
Reels. Note that the first two have agate line guides. They are hard to
find with the agate guides. I believe the smallest reel has never been
used. |
