James Heddon's Sons, Dowagiac, MI
Heddon hired William Carter and Jack Welch to develop a line of quality fishing reels to compete with the Meek reels. In 1917, they introduced their first Carter-built reels. They were the No's 30, 35, 40 and 45. They were available for only a couple of years. The No. 30 was the most costly and is very rare. In 1920, the Heddon 3-15, 3-24 an 3-30 were introduced. The top of the line variations were the full jeweled tournament (FJT) models with saphire jeweled bearings. The great windshield wiper design reels were sold in 1922 as a No. 4-15 and in 1923 and 1924 as a No. 4-18. The last of the high quality reels made by Heddon were the No. 3-35 (1922 - 1926) and the No. 3-25 (1926 - 1931). After Jack Welch left the company in 1931, he hand made some reels with his own name marked on them. All of these reels are considered highly collectable.
The HEDDON No. 35 Reel, circa 1918
The HEDDON No. 3-24 FJ Reel, circa 1920
The HEDDON No. 3-24 FJ Reel made for Schmelzers, circa 1920
The HEDDON No. 3-30 FJT Reel, circa 1920
The HEDDON No. 4-18 Reel, circa 1923
The Heddon No. 4-15 Reel, circa 1922
The JACK WELCH Reel, circa 1932