Johnson Reel Collectors Assn. (J.R.C.A.) since 10/10/14
Johnson Princess Models - A Ladies Century Model 100A & B => Princess 100-A 1956 => Topic started by: salmonfishing on May 22, 2017, 11:47:19 AM
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What is interesting in this package I purchased is the “Open Letter†that came inside the box with the reel and owner docs. We know that to cater to the “Lady Fishermanâ€, Johnson quickly moved to start making the pink Princess line of fishing reels. To get easily started they simply took a Century Model 100-A, painted it pink and put the word “Princess†on the front cover. Eventually, they moved to the Princess Models 100AP and 100BP which had their own side plates. On this Princess box, you can see that Johnson simply took the Century 100-A box and made a few slight changes to make it the Princess 100-A box. Comparing it to the Century box, this Princess box has the same basic lettering graphic layout on the top and on the side it still has the fish and double diamond graphics like on the Century box. What was interesting to me is it appears Johnson moved so quickly to get the Princess reel to market, they included the Century 100-A owner docs in the box but also inserted the “Open Letter†addressed to the ladies since I really think they had not yet started printing a separate Princess owner doc for the 100-A. In the open letter they refer to the enclosed owner docs and also at the end state that if parts are ordered, “please specify “for the Princess reelâ€.†which further makes me think the enclosed Century owner docs are correct in this package. Ultimately Johnson with the Model 100AP Princess reel moved to a unique box and specific Princess reel owner docs. What makes collecting early Johnson reels fun for me is not only the reels and seeing the progression with them but also collecting boxes and documents and seeing the progression there as well.
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Great post on the Johnson Princess reels, Chuck! Don't see much written about them.
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Thanks Skip. When I saw this and the 100AP with that marketing display piece listed, I had to get them. Spent way too much but knew the items were cool and rarely seen. Just had to share!
Chuck