I’m selling a part of my 40+ year tackle collection over the coming months. Over 10,000 reels and 15,000 lures and need to thin the herd. Bookmark me because I’ll be listing 30-50 reels every week, so check out my other auctions! So much rare stuff. I am listing reels Monday-Thursday so if you see reels you like that end later in the week, I’ll wait to send an invoice until the Thursday reels have ended to save you shipping costs. First month put nearly 200 reels into new homes! Thanks to everyone. I truly appreciate it.

DESCRIPTION:

This is a very tough trade reel manufactured by the Ocean City Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, Penn. (see below for a brief history of their reels). It’s marked “Ocean City Mfg. Co. Cyclone” and “made for R. Macy & Co.” on the red badge on the front plate. This series of badged Ocean City reels are really fun to collect, dating from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. R. Macy’s of course is the famous department store headquartered in New York City, and who sold a full line of Macy’s marked fishing tackle which is hard to find and fun to collect. There is a detailed article on the trade tackle of Macy’s published by the Old Reel Collector’s Association (ORCA), whose digital library is available to all members. Works fine but needs a cleaning. See high res images. A great addition to your collection of a TOUGH Ocean City trade reel!

SHIPPING:

Domestic shipping will be $6 via USPS first class mail in the domestic USA. Combined domesticI lots will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail. International shipping only through eBay’s international shipping program. 

NOTES:

I’ve collected reels and lures for 40 years and I love them and their history, and really just want these to have happy homes. If there’s any issues I’ll fix them for you. 

Inventory Code: D077

BRIEF HISTORY:

The Ocean City Manufacturing Company was a staple of the American saltwater and freshwater fisherman for a half century. Started in Philadelphia in 1922 by two men named Moskowitz and Herbach (M&H) as a purveyor of economically priced and durable reels, the company was also innovative and was the training ground for Otto Henze, the founder of Penn Reels.

Ocean City is best known for two lines of reels. Their saltwater reels (designed in part by Otto Henze) were legendary in the 1920s and 1930s, and are an incredibly reel to collect because there are just so many variations to their models. Many are German Silver and beautiful examples of the mechanical genius of American tackle makers. Their catalog was augmented by the purchase of Fox Gun Company reels works in the late 1920s and the legendary Edward vom Hofe firm in 1939.

The other line was freshwater, which Ocean City got into BIG TIME in the 1920s. Within a decade they offered dozens of models (some inherited from Fox) and when, in 1934, Paul Johnson the CEO of Ocean City oversaw the acquisition of the Montague Rod & Reel Company? Their line exploded. They also offered a full line of fly fishing reels as well as other tackle.

In the post-World War II era, Ocean City (and Bronson) dominated the lower end reel market, having pivoted in this direction due to the incredible demand for fishing tackle after the war. But this proved to be a poor decision and they were never able to recapture the middle class angler’s market, slowly hemorrhaging money and market share until they were bought out by True Temper in 1969.

Ocean City truly offers a reel for everyone: saltwater reels, Big Game reels, baitcasters, fly reels, and open and closed face spinning reels. So if you’re searching for a $1500 big game reel of a $5 bait caster, Ocean City has something for every collector. Esteemed reel historian Michael Cacioppo has penned a definitive history of this firm and its reels in his book Ocean City Fishing Reels: A Collector’s Guide, 1922-1957 which is published by the Whitefish Press. The Old Reel Collector’s Association (ORCA) maintains a quick ID guide to Ocean City reels as well; anyone interested in these reels should use both sources frequently.