William Mills & Son, New York, NY
William Mills & Son was one of the longest run sporting goods stores in the USA. The company William Mills & Son was established in 1822 under the name T. & J. Bate. The company name changed to Thos. Bate in 1836, to T. & T. H. Bate in 1843, to Thos. H. Bate in 1853 and then to T. H. Bate & Co. in 1859. The name was finally changed to Wm. Mills & Son in 1875. Probably the most famous brand reels sold by Wm. Mills were those by H.L. Leonard. Hiram Leonard was a famous rod maker from Bangor, Maine. In 1877, Francis Philbrook assigned his patented raised pillar reel to him and that was the start of the Leonard reel history. The earliest models have beautiful marbelized orange and black hard rubber end plates and handle knobs and are marked Philbrook & Paine, Makers. Marbelized fly reels and salmon reels have also been found unmarked and marked William Mills & Son. The next series were bimetalic and had nickel silver frame with bronze rims and pillar attachment tabs. The first bimetalic fly reels had nickel silver spools and later ones had aluminum ones. Either of these reels is considered rare and highly collectable. Most Leonard reels found are the later ones sold by William Mills & Son and are marked "H.L. Leonard, Patented" or "Leonard-Mills." The Leonard-Mills reels were made for the William Mills Co. by Julius vom Hofe starting around 1900 up until World War II. All the Leonard reels are high quality and sought after by collectors. Reels marked Philbrook & Paine or T. H. Bate are also highly collectable.
William Mills also offered a reel made specifically for them. It was made by Geo. Gayle & Son and was named "INTRINSIC". This is a high quality reel of German silver with an aluminum spool. It came in two variations and in No. 2 and No. 3 sizes.
Company History from William Mills & Son Catalog
The T.H. BATE & CO. Reel, circa 1860
The PHILBROOK & PAINE Fly Reel, circa 1877
The PHILBROOK & PAINE Salmon Reel, circa 1877
The H.L. LEONARD Bi-Metal Fly Reel, circa 1900
The H.L. LEONARD Salmon Reel, circa 1905
WILLIAM MILLS & SON Aluminum Fly Reel
The LEONARD-MILLS Fly Reel
The LEONARD-MILLS 1938 Catalog
The WILLIAM MILLS "INTRINSIC" BY GEO. GAYLE & SON