To a history junky like myself, it was an amazing find. I sat in amazement reading this review, knowing it was probably one of the first reviews of an Ambassadeur reel in the U.S. Funny thing is these early reels go for way more than $450.00 now in auctions. The cost of the reel in 1954 was $45.00, roughly equivalent to $450.00 in today’s money.
In fact, Hutt made note to American manufacturers that, “ would do well to take note of this neat, attractive production.” There was no mention of the model number just a solid review of what this reel offered over the U.S. He noted the color as “maroon but more on the reddish side,” and that it came with a leather case, lube oil and a tube of extra parts. He described the mechanics of the reel along with its features. According to Hutt, he’d only had the reel for two weeks at the time he wrote the review and was more than impressed. I eagerly read the review and was surprised it was of the new Swedish Ambassadeur.
It wasn’t the title that caught my eye, but the image. I got to the March 1954 issue and towards the back was a product review by the Executive Editor Art Hutt, simply named, It Looks Good To Me. “Terry, they were so far superior to the Langleys I was using at the time, I would never have believed it.” This conversation was in 2012.Īt the time I was thumbing through a stack of 1950s The Fisherman magazines. We talked about that experience he had in 1956 and how he wouldn’t give the reels back to the Garcia Rep when he showed up to ask his opinion of the reels. Through that I found out he was the first person in the western United States to get to see and fish with the new ABU 5000. When I started this site, I wrote a biography on his career in the industry. As a kid, I read everything he wrote down to the hyphen and period. Stan was instrumental in my development as a bass angler. casting star and dear friend Stan Fagerstrom. Part of the reason I liked them so much was everybody who meant anything to me in bass fishing used them. They were bullet proof, parts were easy to locate and I could service them myself when needed. The 5000C was the first reel I bought with my own money in 1976 and, by the time I graduated high school in 1982, I owned more than a dozen ABUs ranging from 1500Cs to 2500Cs and 4500Cs to 5500Cs. On a side note, I have always been enthralled with the early ABU reels through the 1970s and early 80s. I wonder how much it cost them to buy the account from Wesseler? It sure didn’t take Garcia long to realize their mistake. So that answered my questions about Garcia’s absence from the ad and who Julian A. Garcia cataloged the Ambassadeur for the first time in 1957.” It wasn’t long before Tom saw the reel’s potential, and a deal was struck between Garcia and ABU in 1956. first, but Tom Lenk (Garcia’s company head) showed little interest. The reel was actually offered to the Garcia Corp. Wesseler that secured the contract with ABU to sell their reel. “When the Ambassadeur bait caster came to America in 1954, it was Julian A. So, I sent Fred an email asking the same question and received, almost instantly, a reply. Bill directed me to a gentleman who he said, “Has forgotten more about ABU than you and I will ever know.” That man is Fred Ribb. This confused me a bit, so I sent Bill an email and asked if he knew why there was no mention of Garcia and who Julian A. First off, the ad is debuting the new Swedish Ambassadeur level wind reel – models 50 – and nowhere in the ad was the name Garcia.
Here’s part of the early history of the ABU 5000.Īs I stated above, Bill Sonnett sent me the 1955 ad and when I looked at it, I had some questions for him. But what happened next got me pretty excited from a historical point of view. Bill is an ardent fan of ABU reels, having used them since 1964, and felt that I’d like to see the early ad.
The ad was sent to me from Bass Fishing Archives writer and bass fishing historian, Bill Sonnett. Back in 2014 I was sent an ad from a 1955 issue of Field and Stream that showcased the new ABU 5000 reel.