Fowler Gem Side-Mount Trout Reel

Patented in 1872, the all-hard-rubber, side-mounted fly reel was the invention of dentist Alonzo H. Fowler of Batavia, New York. Combining the vulcanization of rubber (patented by Charles Goodyear in 1844) and the molding process associated with his dentistry practice, Fowler produced the lightest and simultaneously the most fragile fly reel ever made. As a result, few intact examples have survived.

Courtesy of Jim Schottenham

Yearc. 1872Accession No.L2022.004.002Made byAlonzo H. Fowler