ANTIQUE FISHING REELS

Julius vom Hofe was the son of German immigrants, his father being the famous reel maker Friedrich vom Hofe of Brooklyn New York.  Julius vom Hofe's younger brother, Edward, also established a large and successful reel making company in New York in 1967.

Friedrich started his reel making business in 1857 and it is believed that Julius started as his apprentice at the same time.  The reels produced during this period were marked "F. VOM HOFE & SON".  Upon his father's retirement in 1882 Julius started making reel on his own marking them "JULIUS VOM HOFE".

Julius was granted several patents over the years and upon his death in 1907 his son Julius Jr. continued to run the business until 1939.  Julius Jr. is credited with building the first star drag reel for his friend William Boschen.  Vom Hofe named the commercially sold version of this reel the "B-Ocean" reel, a homonym and a tip of the hat to Boschen.

The Julius vom Hofe Company made a full line of fly, casting, salt water and big game reels in all different sizes and price ranges.  The company also produced and sold a great number reels to several sporting retailers who put their own store or model names on the Julius vom Hofe products.

Today, many of Julius vom Hofe's reels are considered quite collectible and, because of the large number of reels that he made, one could simply collect reels made by Julius vom Hofe and put together a fine, diverse collection of reels.

For more information about Julius vom Hofe reels please refer to:

CLICK HERE for JULIUS VOM HOFE in our - BIG GAME & SALT WATER REEL GALLERY

CLICK HERE for JULIUS VOM HOFE in our - CASTING REEL GALLERY

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