Vintage Johnson Reels

Official History of Johnson Reels

From The Pure Fishing Inc. Website

OUR HISTORY

The Johnson Reel....begins with the tale of two Mankato, Minnesota, fishermen, Lloyd E. Johnson and H. Warren Denison. Both men fished with spinning reels, but as Johnson said, "[The reels] were too cumbersome; it took too many hands to operate them." Line backlashes and snarls were common and took some of the enjoyment out of a day’s fishing. In 1949 Johnson decided to build a reel that was "tangle-free." Johnson put together an enclosed spinning reel using an old alarm clock casing and some spare parts. Denison saw the unrefined reel and together they made some modifications. Little did the men know that they had invented the first closed-face spincasting reel.

Ernest Ackley, a Mankato insurance man, after seeing the reel displayed in Denison’s sporting goods store was the one that convinced them to sell their invention. Both men had no idea of the commercial potential of the reel. They just knew they liked it better than the reels they had been using. "We made the reel to fish with, not to sell," Mr. Denison said. Mr. Ackley became Denison and Johnson’s first salesman.

The Johnson reel made an appearance at the Sportsman’s Show in Minneapolis in the spring of 1950. Although the half-dozen reels displayed at the show were not without their "bugs," the casting distance and the tendency not to backlash and tangle attracted many curious onlookers.

It was only a few weeks later that Denison-Johnson sold their first big order to Janey-Semple-Hill & Company in Minneapolis. The first "factory" was in the basement of Lloyd Johnson’s home. The tools used to fashion the first reels were a punch press and some hand tools Mr. Johnson made. Mrs. Denison and Mrs. Johnson helped complete the "factory" work force. The first Johnson reels produced were referred to as "sidewinders," with the line coming out of the side of the reel rather than out of the front as on present day models. The first enclosed spinning reel was shipped out of Mankato, Minnesota, on May 24, 1950.

In August of 1950, less than four months after their first big order, operations were moved from the Johnson’s basement. A garage on Minneopa Road in Mankato, Minnesota, was the Johnson reel’s second home. Within a year they outgrew the garage and took over the main building on the grounds. By the end of 1950, Denison and Johnson had sold 1,000 reels.

In 1955 the company introduced the first model 100 Century reel. Development of the Century reel led to a whole new range of ideas as Johnson continued to pioneer the closed face reel market.

As sales of the "World Famous Johnson Reel" continued to grow, the Denison-Johnson Corporation was stunned by Mr. Denison’s untimely death in 1958 at the age of 56.In 1959 the company acquired a three-acre site on the east edge of Mankato and built a 30,000 square foot building. In 1968 an addition was added.Johnson Reels expanded into the marine market with the purchase of Minn Kota Electric Fishing motors in 1969. This opened a whole new realm of possibilities for the company.

In 1970 Johnson Reels and Minn Kota trolling motors were acquired by Johnson Worldwide Associates, Inc., of Racine, Wisconsin. JWA was established as a subsidiary of Johnson Wax to launch the company into leisure products and other related fields. Johnson Reels and Minn Kota trolling motors were the first two acquisitions by JWA in May of 1970.

Mr. Lloyd Johnson died in 1970 at the age of 57. Despite being blind for the last ten years of his life, Mr. Johnson registered more than 20 patents including the first patent issued on a spincast reel. Many early model Johnson reels are on display at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin.

In 1979, Johnson Fishing was formed in Mankato, by merging Johnson Reels, Minn Kota, Bass Buster, and Louis Johnson Company, replacing the name Johnson Reels. Lake Electric joined Johnson Fishing in 1984, and Mitchell was added in 1990. In 1995, Spiderwire and Neptune Power Up products joined the JWA family.

In 1993, Lloyd Johnson and H. Warren Denison were posthumously inducted into the Mankato Area Business Hall of Fame for their "contributions to jobs, economic and community development and spirit of entrepreneurship."

As the Johnson Reel approaches its Golden Anniversary, it seems fitting to take a moment to remind today’s fishermen of the men and the reel that started the world spinning 50 years ago.In 2000 Johnson Fishing was purchased by Pure Fishing, Spirit Lake, IA, parent company of Berkley, Abu-Garcia and Fenwick. 

Copyright © 2005, 2006
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