So on a recent trip to a local antique place I saw this old Shakespeare reel in very good condition for a price I couldn’t pass up. I took it home and cleaned it up some, and it functions perfectly. The only issue is I am missing one of the small screws that hold the cross bars for the frame. Does any one have a lead on where I may be able to acquire one of these screws? You can see the missing screw in the side plate in these pictures. 

Model GF is 1945, immediate postwar. 

The oldest reels were dated the year they were made, beginning 1910, and in 1932 began using model change year date code: 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
K J H G F E D C B A

 

here's two pages of posts on ORCA that will get you started. 

apparently Carl Covey wrote an article on Criterion in The Reel News

 

You can match hardware store screws (different head, but standard thread, probably 3-48 or 4-40), but if you contact Dick Janak through ORCA website - reel repairmen, he will have the original screws - he bought the antique parts stores from Col. Milt Lorens. 

 

7 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Model GF is 1945, immediate postwar. 

The oldest reels were dated the year they were made, and in 1932 began using Model Change Year letter codes. 

 

here's two pages of posts on ORCA that will get you started. 

apparently Carl Covey wrote an article on Criterion in The Reel News

 

You can match hardware store screws, but if you contact Dick Janak through ORCA website - reel repairmen, he will have the original screws - he bought the antique parts stores from Col. Milt Lorens. 

 

And THAT is the kind of information you can't get just anywhere

and what makes this forum SO Special !

Nicely Done Sir.

A-Jay

Thanks @A-Jay

how about the level wind on this Shakespeare B, s/n 127, made in 1909

there's a pin for the pawl in the LW rider - when it gets to the end of the ramp, it's pushed into the opposing worm gear.  Not for the faint of pocketbook - $25 in 1909 is a price index of $750 today. 

 

Marhoff, a Shakespeare employee, got his patent for the worm-gear LW we're used to seeing the year before, but the B followed the earlier C and was still in production.  I have this thing for all the LW patents that had to compete with Shakespeare Marhoff before the patent expired in 1928.  Pflueger and Shakespeare were in court continuously over each other's patent infringements from 1915 until Shakespeare bought Pflueger in 1966. 

2 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Model GF is 1945, immediate postwar. 

The oldest reels were dated the year they were made, beginning 1911, and in 1932 began using model change year date code: 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
K J H G F E D C B A

 

here's two pages of posts on ORCA that will get you started. 

apparently Carl Covey wrote an article on Criterion in The Reel News

 

You can match hardware store screws (different head, but standard thread, probably 3-48 or 4-40), but if you contact Dick Janak through ORCA website - reel repairmen, he will have the original screws - he bought the antique parts stores from Col. Milt Lorens. 

 

Thank you! I was just going to go to the hardware store and get something that fit, but having a matching screw will definitely be better. 

Not much to add, but have this I cropped out of a 51 Ward's catalog listing. Probably the most interesting info is the 1951 price ($105 current price index). 

This is likely a model GE, making yours closer to the prewar versions. 

Those holstein handle knobs are beauties, and very 1940.  

I gathered from a quick scan of the Carl Covey posts I searched on ORCA there were 22 different model year designations for Criterion. 

You may be able to find a 1945 Shakespeare catalog linked or posted somewhere on ORCA. 

______________________________________________

@walleyecrazy

If you're looking to match in a rod, in 1945 there was only cane

and steel - an offset handle like below is also your best choice. 

These old American Fork & Hoe (later TrueTemper) square-section steel rods fish quite well. 

 

 

by 1948, Shakespeare had glass rods in the market, though this example is 1958. 

Also Harnell, and there's argument about who sold the first. 

 

Rather than mono, the best line to use on those old reels is 10- or 15-lb soft braid.  In modern lines, you can use ice-fishing nylon, which is teflon impregnated, Green Spot dacron, or Gudebrod Meatmaster.  You can also back it with a heavier line, and top with a finer working line.  I add short nylon leader for tying on lures by putting a perfection loop in each and loop-to-loop.