The P. Evens Reel
This reel was found in a yard sale in Idaho in 1979. I have since come to
believe that it is one of the earliest fishing reels manufactured in Ohio.
As you can see from
the photos it is a simple single action reel with the foot attached to a "C"
shaped strap. This construction is similar to early English and U.S.
Trolling reel construction. The reel is made of brass which has been nickel
plated. The crank is a thing of beauty. The handle is turned out of a solid
piece of brass and cut in half, curved at each end to follow the contours of
the spool, then attached permanently to the spool. It is delicately knurled
for decoration and has very nice lines. The crank knob appears to be horn
and is also very nicely made.
There is a spring drag that presses the spool when a nicely knurled knob
is rotated inward. This wonderful metal work leads me to believe that the
spool was once held on by an artistically turned and knurled not, not the
current parts. On the bottom of the stram, next to the foot is a stamped
oval inscribed "FROM P. EVENS JR/CIN. O."
The Cincinnati Historical Society found that Platt Evens Jr. was listed
in Cincinnati City Directories from 1850 until 1883. He appeared initially
in the 1850 city directory as a "philosophical instrument maker". In 1856
Mr. Evens moved to Covington, Kentucky, but continued his business in
Cincinnati. In 1855 Mr.
Evens was engaged in making seal presses and went on to become a seal
engraver and general machinist in 1856. He was also manufacturing sewing
machines in the early 1860s. My assumption is that he manufactured this reel
sometime between 1856-1868, when listed as a general machinist and seal
engraver. Luckily for tackle historians, he stamped the reel with his own
seal.
Several nagging questions remain. Is this the only reel turned out by P.
Evens Jr., or are there other examples out there? Did some fisherman,
knowing that Evens was a machinist, ask him to make this reel? Was he
influenced by the Kentucky reel makers across the Ohio River and decided to
try his hand at manufacturing fishing reels? Was this his first (and only)
attempt at a reel? Was Platt Evens Jr. the first reel maker in Ohio?
