Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - AL

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6
1
Model 155A (1979-1980) / test
« on: December 15, 2019, 04:40:09 PM »
test

2
Vicki's Blogs / Russians Like Fishing Too--Cop Johnson Reels, 1961
« on: May 21, 2019, 09:40:44 PM »

Russians Like Fishing Too--Cop Johnson Reels, 1961

   Don't believe all this propaganda stuff about those Russians knocking themselves out on five-year plans trying to meet Mr. K's production quotas ... once in a while they sneak off to fish, too!
   The Denison-Johnson Corporation, makers of the world-famous Johnson fishing reels, found this out about the Ivans the hard way. Invited by Washington officials to exhibit their leisure-time product at the Moscow fair, the Johnson people sent a still photographer to snap a picture of their exhibit. Cabled back by the photographer: "Can't take photo. No subject. All your dozen enclosed reels have been pilfered from exhibit by the Russkies."
   The Johnson Reel people are most cooperative folks and advised Moscow fair authorities in Washington they would air-freight over another dozen reels. "After all." quipped Lloyd Johnson, inventor of the reel which takes the irksome backlash out of angling, "if they take this additional dozen that will make 24 Russians we've sent fishing. Maybe it will be our contribution toward an ending of the cold war!"
   They sent the additional 12. They were taken too!

==================

Governor Accepts Reels, 1962

Minnesota Governor Elmer Andersen accepts 50 Johnson Century reels from Ray Salscheider, vice-president of the Denison-Johnson

3
Vicki's Blogs / Johnson and Denison family information
« on: May 19, 2019, 10:17:03 AM »
Johnson and Denison family information


« on: May 15, 2019, 05:09:54 PM »

I have recently received a 30 page packet of information from the Historical Society in Mankato Minn. Along with that information I have found the "obituary" information on Lloyd and Clarice Johnson as well as Warren and Evelyn Denison. When you read these obits, remember who wrote them and when. They might tend to cast a certain shadow on the flowery company history posted everywhere else.
=============================
OBITUARY for LLOYD E. JOHNSON furnished by Vicki Allen:
Received from Historical Society in Mankato on May 14, 2019, source unknown.
b. 13 Dec 1913   in Minnesota per  1920, 1930 and 1940 census
d. 20 Feb 1971 in Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, USA

Fishing Reel Inventor
Lloyd Johnson, 57, Dies
The inventor of a revolutionary, back-lash-free fishing reel that made Mankato world famous, Lloyd E. Johnson, died this morning at his home, 64 Skyline Drive.
He was 57.
Wednesday funeral services are pending with Johnson-Boman Mortuary.
Chairman of the board of Johnson Reels, Inc., Mr. Johnson manufactured the first Johnson Reel from an old alarm clock casing and home-made parts in the basement of his home in 1949.
The company he began now occupies a 66,000 square foot plant at the east edge of Mankato on Highway 14. Johnson Reels holds more than 20 patents on fishing reels throughout the world. It produces 14 various models of casting and spinning reels.
In spite of steadily increasing blindness, Mr. Johnson served as chairman of the board until May 1970 when the company was sold to Johnson Wax Co. of Racine, Wis.
In the early days of the company, the entire production, management and sales force consisted of Mr. Johnson, his wife Clarice and Mr. and Mrs. H. Warren Denison, fishing partner and co-inventor with Mr. Johnson. Johnson Reels now employs approximately 100 persons locally with more than 30 sales representatives in the United States, Canada and Australia.
The partners took their first three pre-production models to the Northwest Boat, Travel and Sports Show in Minneapolis in March of 1949.
Hardly able to afford the booth space, they could not afford a decent hotel room. They booked space in one of Minneapolis' lesser known hotels, but found little time to sleep.
Every day throngs of people came by the booth, practiced casting with the new reel, and were fascinated with how well it worked. Every night it was necessary for Mr. Johnson to drive back to Mankato and rebuild the reels, hand-made of home-produced parts.
In 1958, two events of note occurred. A new reel called the Centennial was developed and received world-wide acceptance. But in that same year, Mr. Denison died suddenly while on a business trip to New York.
In its more than 20 years of existence, Johnson Reels has designed and manufactured 35 different models - an average of more than one per year. Each reel sold has been accompanied by a lifetime service guarantee first offered by the original inventor.
Mr. Johnson was born Dec. 13, 1913.
He is survived by his widow, Clarice; three daughters, Mrs. Michael Kattie, Mrs. Roger Salfer, and Dorothy, all of Mankato; and one son, Charles also of Mankato.
------------------
Reference two of his many reel patents:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2644647
Inventor: Denison Henry Warren Lloyd E Johnson Current Assignee DENISON JOHNSON Inc
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3023978A/en
Inventor Denison F Evelyn Lloyd E Johnson Current Assignee DENISON JOHNSON Inc
-------------------
OBITUARY:  CLARICE G ANDERSON JOHNSON HAGER
BAXTER — Clarice G. Hager, 91, of Baxter, died Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at Edgewood Vista. A memorial service for Clarice will be held at a later date.
Clarice was born on Dec. 21, 1919, in St. Peter, Minn. Clarice graduated from St. Peter High School. She was united into marriage to Lloyd Johnson on Sept. 3, 1941, in Gaylord, Minn. Clarice and Lloyd founded and operated Johnson Reels. Following Lloyd’s death, Clarice remarried to Melvin Hager.
Clarice is survived by her children, Charles (Arla) Johnson, Carol (Mike) Gattie, Dorothy (Vince) Tiernan, and Donna (Roger) Salfer; 10 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; brothers, Les Anderson and Willard Anderson; and sister, Lilias Harmer. She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Lloyd Johnson and Mel Hager; sisters, Joanne, Lorraine and Gladys. Memorials in honor of Clarice can be made to the charity of the donor’s choice. Arrangements have been entrusted to Brenny Funeral Chapel of Baxter.
-------------------
CHILDREN of LLOYD E. JOHNSON and CLARICE G ANDERSON JOHNSON HAGER
Name:  John Charles Johnson  b.  2 Apr 1942  Charles (Arla) Johnson
Name:  Carol Ann Johnson  b.  25 May 1944   Carol (Mike) Gattie
Name:  Dorothy Mae Johnson  b.  11 May 1947   Dorothy (Vince) Tiernan
Name:  Donna Marie Johnson  b.  11 May 1947   Donna (Roger) Salfer
=============================
OBITUARY for HENRY "WARREN" DENISON from FAG
b.  2 Feb 1902   d.  18 Jun 1958  (aged 56)
Denison Dies While On Vacation
Death brought to a close one of Mankato's outstanding success stories Wednesday night as word came from New York City that H. Warren Denison, 56, president of the Denison - Johnson corporation, had died there.
Mr. Denison and his family had left Mankato for New York by plane Friday. After clearing up some business there he and the family had planned on a trip through the New England states. Word was received by ROY HOLMBERG, manager of the company, that Mr. Denison had died at about 10:30 p.m. New York time, at a New York hospital. Cause of death was believed to be a heart attack.
With him in New York were Mrs. Denison; his son, William, 13; his daughters, Barbara, on summer vacation from Denison university at Granville, Ohio, and Mary, who works in New York. Another daughter, Mrs. Robert (Ardeth) Volk of Minneapolis also survives.
Mr. Denison and his partner, Lloyd Johnson, worked an idea for the a new spinning fishing reel from a shoestring basement operation to a major Mankato industry in less than eight years. Fishing buddies for many years, Denison and Johnson had experimented with homemade improvements on the conventional fishing reel and late in 1949 decided to turn some out for experimental sale.
That first operation produced 800 reels and was carried on in the basement and kitchen of the two men's homes with the families pitching in to help. The following spring they went into partnership and rented space in the back end of a garage at their present location, 720 Minneopa Road. They hired one employee.
They have come a long way since then. Now they have a working force of 75 and a plant which was built to handle increasing business. In 1957 they produced 320,000 reel and this fiscal year's figures are expected to top that by 10 per cent.
Before going into the spinning reel business, Denison operated a sporting goods store. During World War II he worked in the engineering department of the Kato Engineering company. Earlier he was assistant sales manager of the Louden Machinery company at Fairfield, Ia.
Mr. Denison was born at Amboy on February 3, 1902 and went to grade and high school there. He earned his bachelor of science degree at Iowa State college.
He was a member of the Presbyterian church, Elks club, Kiwanis club and Mankato Golf club.
Funeral arrangement, the Landkamer funeral home in charge, are pending.
-- Mankato Review, Thursday, June 19, 1958, p. 1.
------------------
HISTORY of the JOHNSON REEL (from "WARREN" DENISON FAG NOT IN OBITUARY)
Two Mankato, Minnesota fishermen, Lloyd Johnson and Warren Denison, loved to fish with spinning reels. But the lines were always getting tangled, and snarls & backlashes were common. So in 1949 they decided to build a reel from an old alarm clock that would be tangle-free. After several modifications, the world's first enclosed spinning reel was displayed in Denison's Sporting Goods Store. In the spring of 1950 they took the reel to the Minneapolis Sportsman's Show, and sold their first big order to Janey-Semple-Hill in Minneapolis. The first factory was in Johnson's basement, with Mrs. Johnson & Mrs. Denison completing the work force. In the fall of 1950 the factory was moved to a garage, and a year later to a larger building, with Johnson running the factory. Denison managed the sales force, which ultimately grew to 8 manufacturer's reps who covered the entire United States.
Warren Denison died in 1958 at the age of 56, and Johnson at age 57 in 1970. [1971] In between these years a 30,000 sq. foot building and then an addition were built on top of the hill in Mankato. In 1970 the Johnson Reel Company was acquired by Johnson Wax; and in 1979 Johnson Fishing was formed in Mankato by merging Johnson Reels and several other smaller fishing products companies. The two inventors were posthumously inducted into the Mankato Business Hall of Fame in 1993. Then in 2000 Johnson Fishing was purchased by Pure Fishing of Spirit Lake, IA.
See About Johnson, the story of the reel on the Johnson website.
Fishing reel US Patent 2644647 A.
------------------
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2644647
Inventor: Denison Henry Warren Lloyd E Johnson Current Assignee DENISON JOHNSON Inc
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3023978A/en
Inventor Denison F Evelyn Lloyd E Johnson Current Assignee DENISON JOHNSON Inc
Florence "Evelyn" Thornson Denison (her name is on PATENT papers after Warren's death)
------------------
OBITUARY for Florence "Evelyn" Thornson Denison  from FAG
b.  12 May 1906   d.  9 Dec 2001 (aged 95)
F. EVELYN DENISON
MANKATO – Mankato resident Florence Evelyn Denison, 95, died Sunday, Dec. 9, 2001, at Immanuel St. Joseph's Hospital in Mankato, Mn. Memorial services are 1:00 p.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church in Mankato, with private burial services in Glenwood Cemetery in Mankato. Visitation is 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Landkamer's Johnson-Boman Funeral Home and continues one hour before services Saturday at the church. Memorials are preferred to First Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Denison was born May 12, 1906, to Richard and Mary (Barney) Thornson at Marshall, MN. She was a 1924 graduate of Pipestone High School and a 1926 graduate of McPhail School of Drama in Minneapolis. She married H. Warren Denison Nov. 24, 1927. They moved to Mankato in 1940, where they operated a sporting goods store. In 1949, she began helping her husband and his business partner develop the Johnson Reel. Active in many community programs, she helped establish the first Mankato Rehab Auxiliary Thrift Shop and served as membership chairman of the Rehab Board for many years. She was involved in the Mankato Hot Meals program and the local chapter of AARP, was a charter member and historian of Mankato Area Foundation, and was a member of Glenwood Cemetery Board. A member of First Presbyterian Church, she participated in Mary Martha Circle, Mankato Symphony Guild, and Mankato Elk Lodge Does.
Mrs. Denison is survived by three daughters, Mary Evelyn and her husband, Dr. William Nelson of Mankato; Ardeth Louise and her husband, Robert Volk of Plymouth, and Barbara Florence O'Connor of Graysonville, MD, 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, one son William, five sisters, and nieces and nephews.
-- Mankato Free Press, Dec. 13, 2001
---------------------------------------
CHILDREN of "WARREN" DENISON and "EVELYN" THORNSON DENISON
Name:  Ardeth Louise Denison Volk  1931–2016 Robert Volk
Name:  William Bruce Denison  1945–1998
Name:  Barbara Denison O'Connor
Name:  Mary Denison and Dr. William Nelson

4
Model 110A (1958-1962) / Re: 110-A picture
« on: January 14, 2019, 01:17:41 PM »
I agree on both counts.  Good job.....isn't research fun?

5
Model 10A (1950) / Re: Model 10A Prototype Reel
« on: May 14, 2018, 12:11:45 PM »
Chuck, Timmy, thank you. This is the kind of information that makes this site great and obviously the only Johnson Reel Site

6
How it Started / Re: The Beginning
« on: May 14, 2018, 11:57:36 AM »
Thanks for the clarification Timmy. I was trying to remember what you told me.

7
Model 130B (1972-1978) / Re: Oscillating Spool
« on: May 14, 2018, 11:34:59 AM »
That's one I was not aware of.and evidently you are the first to bring it up on this site.  Thanks

8
Citation 110 "Demonstrator" / Citation Demonstrator lives
« on: May 01, 2018, 11:30:42 AM »
Very strange that a Citation DEMO  finally popped  up on e-bay and is now mine. It is in good shape and will look good by my many Model 80 DEMO's

9
Montgomery Wards / Re: Comparing my two Hawthorne 60 6439's
« on: February 04, 2018, 08:13:14 PM »
It is very possible that Wards was a prime customer. There always seems to me that Sears (WLS) was a leader in trade reels and rods than anyone else. Do we have any records of Johnson making reels for Sears?


10
Reel of the Month / February Reel of the
« on: February 01, 2018, 07:48:21 PM »
This month we will celebrate the Johnson 10A Sidewinder. The 10A hit the ponds and streams in 1950 and is still being fished today by Johnson collectors and enthusiasts.

11
Johnson Reel Discussions / Model 22 & 44
« on: January 19, 2018, 05:49:32 PM »
Looking at the exploded views and parts list, I note the following differences:
Model 22 looks like a very simple direct-drive reel with no gears or drive train.  The parts list describes a "drive shaft and thumbing disc", which I interpret use as a drag.
Model 44 has a raised cover over a gear drive, push-button line release and a crank handle.
I see an introduction date of 1954, have no info on length of production.  Since Century 100 was introduced the following year, I'd think it was surely in the design stage when these reels were made.  The Sidewinder 60 (1952) and 80 (1953) were actually more sophisticated designs, I wonder if 22 & 44 might have been an effort to use up remaining Sidewinder parts before Century launch.Posted for Skip Smith.

12
Is Princess on the Nose Cone? / Yes
« on: January 01, 2018, 09:32:15 PM »
Princess was scripted on the Nose Cone of the First version which was a Johnson Century 100 in 1959

13
Ask A Question / Poll on site usage/information abuse
« on: January 01, 2018, 06:58:12 PM »
We have  almost 180 registered members and only 46 have contributed by posting any subject matter that adds to the knowledge base that has made this site successful.
What is/are the thoughts on the non-participating "takers"  that do not contribute

14
Reel of the Month / January 2018 Reel of the Month
« on: January 01, 2018, 02:26:08 PM »

"Back in the Spring of 1949 a remarkable man named Lloyd Johnson introduced a remarkable
innovation to American sport fishing - the closed - face spincasting reel.  He called this first
production model of his invention the Johnson " Sidewinder".

Here was a reel that could cast far, flat, and straight, with lures much lighter than any casting
reel before. Yet a reel so simple in design-so dependable in operation-that a good many "Sidewinders"
still go fishing every Spring.

15
Reel of the Month / Re: January, 1 of the New Year 2018
« on: January 01, 2018, 02:13:12 PM »
WE will "NEVER" forget the "BLUE" Princess

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6
SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal