Zebco

Zebco began as the Zero Hour Bomb Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which made electric timers for the explosives used in oil-well work. In 1949, working with an idea from Texas watchmaker R D Hull, it produced its first closed-face push-button reel, the Standard. The Zebco 33 followed in 1954, the company adopted the Zebco name in 1956, and Brunswick bought it in 1961, the same year the small 202 'ZeeBee' appeared. More than 40 million 33s are commonly said to have been sold, and the push-button spincast reel became the way millions of American children learned to fish. Zebco's catalogue also includes the heavy-duty 808 and the premium Omega line, which began with the Omega One in 1973; today's Omega Z03 is a modern descendant. Vintage Zebcos are simple, cheap and easy to fix. Collectors pay a little more for early versions with metal feet and original colours, while later reels are best bought as fishing tools. Check that a reel picks up line reliably and releases cleanly on the cast, and you have most of what matters.