I'd bet I'm not the only one with some of these laying around.   Built like a tank.  Dug out my dad's old Christmas tree tinsel...the kind made with lead that you cannot buy anymore.   He had it wrapped in a newspaper from 1961.

Got my dad's, cleaned it up, still works. Was state of the art at the time. Now ? I like the modern reels.

Still have mine on its original Eagle Claw glass rod with “hi-tech” Coors ceramic guides lol. Still works, although as stated above, I prefer modern reels. 
 

Dad bought me my Mitchell 300 in 1954.  Wish I still had.  Even if only for sentimental reasons.

6 hours ago, Smalliefan2 said:

Got my dad's, cleaned it up, still works. Was state of the art at the time. Now ? I like the modern reels.

Did it have an audible clicker? I have one of my dad's old spinning reels that's in good shape. But it has that clicker and it's quite heavy for its size.

Mine does unless the AR switch is on. 

I still have mine. The paint is chipped but the reel still works. I wouldn’t use it over my newer reels.

Seems like every kid back then had a Mitchell reel.  I still have a 300 and the smaller 308, cleaned up and re-lubed they still work well.  

I've got possibly dozens. Every time a relative passes away that was a fisherman/fisherwoman, I get their stuff. 

First 'real' reel I got was a Mitchell 320 for my 8th birthday - way back in '67

 

I caught everything from sunnies to pike in lakes and ponds, striped bass fishing Cape Cod, and even trout in streams. For several years it was the only reel I owned until I picked up a Pflueger 640 in the mid 70s.

 

Things broke on it, couldn't find replacement parts...as this was before the internet, I finally tossed it...should have kept it.

One of the cooler features is the ability to set the drag on each spool, for different lines on the 300/308/408 models. 

15 minutes ago, lo-fi-hi-fi said:

One of the cooler features is the ability to set the drag on each spool, for different lines on the 300/308/408 models. 

It’s an easy spool change. But man, it sucked if the line got looped under the spool and got wrapped around the shaft covered in grease. 
 

Remember when “skirted spools” was a big selling feature? 

Wow, a blast from the past.  The Mitchell 300 was THE go-to reel in the sixties, along with a fiberglass rod.  My brother still likes to pick them up at yard sales.  If you A/B them with a modern reel though, they fall a little short.

My memories are a little different. 

I fished through the gears in mine over four years of fall spanish macks from the jetties while in high school. 

A green Penn would have kept going. 

I've got the 300 that my dad bought back in '72.  It was the first spinning reel he owned.