Back in 2014 I was sent an ad from a 1955 issue of Field and Stream that showcased the new ABU 5000 reel. The ad was sent to me from Bass Fishing Archives writer and bass fishing historian, Bill Sonnett. Bill is an ardent fan of ABU reels, having used them since 1964, and felt that I’d like to see the early ad. He was right. But what happened next got me pretty excited from a historical point of view. Here’s part of the early history of the ABU 5000.
As I stated above, Bill Sonnett sent me the 1955 ad and when I looked at it, I had some questions for him. First off, the ad is debuting the new Swedish Ambassadeur level wind reel – models 5000 and 6000 – and nowhere in the ad was the name Garcia.
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. Wesseler was. 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.
So, I sent Fred an email asking the same question and received, almost instantly, a reply. Here’s what Fred said:
“When the Ambassadeur bait caster came to America in 1954, it was Julian A. Wesseler that secured the contract with ABU to sell their reel. The reel was actually offered to the Garcia Corp. first, but Tom Lenk (Garcia’s company head) showed little interest. It wasn’t long before Tom saw the reel’s potential, and a deal was struck between Garcia and ABU in 1956. Garcia cataloged the Ambassadeur for the first time in 1957.”
So that answered my questions about Garcia’s absence from the ad and who Julian A. Wesseler was. It sure didn’t take Garcia long to realize their mistake. I wonder how much it cost them to buy the account from Wesseler?
On a side note, I have always been enthralled with the early ABU reels through the 1970s and early 80s. 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. They were bullet proof, parts were easy to locate and I could service them myself when needed.
Part of the reason I liked them so much was everybody who meant anything to me in bass fishing used them. This included the late writer. casting star and dear friend Stan Fagerstrom. Stan was instrumental in my development as a bass angler. As a kid, I read everything he wrote down to the hyphen and period. Then, later in life, I got to meet him.
When I started this site, I wrote a biography on his career in the industry. 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. 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. “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.
Fast forward now to early 2015.
At the time I was thumbing through a stack of 1950s The Fisherman magazines. 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. It wasn’t the title that caught my eye, but the image. It looked like an ABU 5000. I eagerly read the review and was surprised it was of the new Swedish Ambassadeur. According to Hutt, he’d only had the reel for two weeks at the time he wrote the review and was more than impressed. He described the mechanics of the reel along with its features. 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. There was no mention of the model number just a solid review of what this reel offered over the U.S. competitors’ reels. In fact, Hutt made note to American manufacturers that, “[You] would do well to take note of this neat, attractive production.”
The cost of the reel in 1954 was $45.00, roughly equivalent to $450.00 in today’s money. Funny thing is these early reels go for way more than $450.00 now in auctions.
I sat in amazement reading this review, knowing it was probably one of the first reviews of an Ambassadeur reel in the U.S. To a history junky like myself, it was an amazing find.
Having found this review, I thought that surely there had to be an ad in one of the later magazines. Sure enough, I was right. I didn’t have to dig too far either, as the June 1954 issue had the first ad placed in The Fisherman magazine. Again, I’m not sure what the earliest date for an ABU ad is but this must be awful close to it.
Unlike the ad from 1955, this ad only has one reel in it, the Swedish Record Ambassadeur 5000. The ad describes the features of the reel such as the centrifugal braking system, “Urfabriken’s world-famous proven brake,” Lure weight control (the spool tension knob), level wind, drag and line capacity.
Now I was excited. I scanned the review and the ad and sent them off to Bill Sonnett. Bill responded that he’d never seen the ad or review and sent them to Fred Ribb. Ribb also confirmed he’d never seen the ad or review. At this time, I felt pretty lucky to have come across them and to have been able to contribute to the history of the ABU 5000. The reel that changed bass fishing.
It wasn’t just bass fishing that the ABU 5000 changed.
Back to my dear friend Stan Fagerstrom. In our conversations over the years, he told me that if it wasn’t for the ABU 5000, he may not have had the life he so much enjoyed in the industry. The Garcia rep who gave him those initial two reels had heard Stan was a pretty good caster and angler and offered to send him to a sport show in Los Angeles in the spring of 1957 to perform a casting show and help introduce the reels to the public. Stan jumped on the offer and that’s what led him to a career performing casting demonstrations all over the world. If you’re interested in reading about Stan’s life, please click on his biography.
To say the ABU 5000 changed the sport of bass fishing would be an understatement. The ABU line of casting reels became the cornerstone reel for anyone serious about the sport through the 1980s. Every manufacturer copied details of the ABU reels to make their offerings better with little success. It wasn’t until Lew Childre in the mid-70s, working with Shimano, came out with something that could compete with ABU – that of course was the BB1 Speed Spool. But, if you look at the guts of the BB1 and Shimano’s reels thereafter, you see the DNA of the ABU.
If anyone out there knows of any other ads and/or reviews of the “new” Swedish Ambassadeur reel, we’d like to see them.
If you’re a bass fishing history junky like myself, I highly suggest you get Bill Sonnett’s books, Deconstructing Old Ads, by Whitefish Press. Bill has compiled three volumes of old ads where he takes and develops the history of bass fishing through the ads. I have all three volumes and find myself reading them almost daily. Another suggestion, if you’re interested in learning more about ABU, please go to Fred’s site, Fred’s Classic ABU Reel Information. His site has all sorts of cool ABU history that includes non-ABU Ambassadeurs, ABU Records and hard to find ABUs. If you like ABU/Garcia history, you’ll love his site.
More ABU Reel Historical References:
Interesting stuff. I appreciate the detailed history. My dad had several Ambassadeur 5000’s and always spoke of them with admiration. I now own those reels. They breathe rarified air in my collection because of the history they have in bass and pike fishing with my dad. It’s great to learn more about them…thanks for this research.
David, no problem at all. I’m glad it helped you learn more about your dad’s reels. Thank you for your kind words and support!
There was another baitcasting reel made in Sweden at the time that was far more advanced than the Ambassadeurs . It was made by Arjon and called the 195 “Fighter” It featured a level wind guide that would split in the middle and each half would move out to each side of the reel for less drag when casting . When you cranked the reel handle both halves would return to position capturing the line . It also had a turbine connected to the spool shaft for casting control to prevent backlashes . It was a beautiful reel with a bright green anodized finish . Abu bought out the Arjon company to eliminate the sales competition for their Ambassadeur reels and the Fighter 195 was taken out of production .
I own (or have owned ) just about every round model Ambassadeur made and bought a vintage Arjon from a guy in Sweden years ago also.
Damn Ken. What I love about this hobby is that I learn something new every day. I have never heard of the Arjon or the 195 Fighter. Was there ever any information printed about it?
Terry , I actually own one in perfect condition and bought a clipped ad from a fishing magazine when they were available that I found on Ebay . If you want I could attach a picture to an email and send it to you
Ken, that would be cool! What year is the reel you own? You can email me at terry@bass-archives.com. Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been travelling all week for work.
Awesome ty
Anytime Albert! Thank you!
Juicenewman@yahoo.com I have a like new in the box 5000d in the teal green blueish green do you have any idea what it would be worth it was never used with papers and wrench box has some scraps on it not bad
Nathan, In that condition with the box, tools and parts it can bring in excess of over $100.
I have a 4 screw side plate red 5000 with a 279737 number on it, was wondering if you might know what year it is? Thanks Larry.
Larry, off the top of my head I don’t know. It would require some research. I’ll look into it and hopefully I can come up with an answer for you. On the other hand, there are a couple of really good ABU sites out there, where I will be doing my research.
The first is Fred’s Classic ABU Reels: https://lurelore.com/freds/abu.html
The second is Realsreels: http://www.realsreels.com/reels/ambassadeur/datingABUreels.html
The third, and most recognized is Simon Shimomura’s site: http://www.mrambassadeur.com/
If you find out before I do, please come back and leave another comment. I’d love to know the answer! Terry
Larry, I just found out from a friend of mine into ABUs that your serial number is from the 1961-63 timeframe. I hope this helps.
Cleaning out my dad‘s stuff and trying to find the year of his red 5000 ambassador. It has the leather case oil tube and parts tube with parts. Also has gold shield guarantee. Number on the reel is 70368. I’m not a open face reel guy and want to find it a home where it’s appreciated. Thanks
Hi Al, I am by no means an expert on dating ABU reels. I generally go to Wayne Reals’ site and others to get a handle on when a reel was made. You can find Wayne’s site at: http://www.realsreels.com/reels/ambassadeur/datingABUreels.html. I hope this helps you in your quest.
I really enjoyed reading the history of the ABU REELS. They are in book one of the greatest, depend & most forgiving reels I’ve ever used. I’ve used ABU REELS for the past 50 years. They were the best then & they are still the best reels I’ve ever used. I’ve still got all my old reels: 5000, 5500, 4500 but I still use ABU today I’ve got 8-10 reels I use weekly. I luv them