Ok, In doing some research ,apparently the reason for the gap between the head and eye is ( to paraphrase) "to keep the eye free and clear of varnish and preventing chaffing of the head from the leader". I suppose chaffing the head would cause the thread to unravel. This is from the 1935 Dette catalog.
Jim

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[This message has been edited by Jim Slattery (edited 13 March 2005).]