Which came first,the Matarelli or the Thompson?
Which came first,the Matarelli or the Thompson?
The hand.
That doesn't answer the question. I give you an F for the test grade.
The only thing I could find on the search engines was a mention of the Matarelli being invented over 20 years ago, but somehow I think that info might just be out a little
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Born to fish, forced to work.
An interesting question. Brings one to wonder why you would ask? I looked on the net to see what was a Thompson and what was a Matarelli. I found that I use the Thompson and I think, repeat think, that is same style of finisher I used 50 years ago. It would be interesting to find the answer.
Tim Anderson
Ray,
I have no absolute answer to your question. What I can say is that both tools are present in a 1977 Eric Leiser 'The Rivergate' catalog I have. The Thompson is listed as "one of the first whip finisher tools", and commands $5.00. The Matarelli whip finisher is listed at $4.75.
Again, I have no absolute answer, but I would be very surprised if the Thompson design does not pre-date the Matarelli.
Cheers,
Hans W
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I'm reasonably certain it's the Thompson. When I started tying around 26 years ago, the Materelli was a new product as far as I knew. The Thompson was already old hat at that time.
I started tying around 1950 and the only thing around at that time was the Thompson style.
Thanks to all you guys who replied. It would appear that the concensus is that the Thompson was probably first. The reason I asked was that I tried using a Thompson decades ago and, while being left-handed I even had to modify it, I found my the manual method worked better. I recently tried a Materelli because my class participants asked about them and in my opinion the Matarelli is great. But I still encourage my guys to use a couple half-hitches to get under parachute hackles.
Ray:
I see what you mean. I turned my vise around and tried the Thompson without much luck. The guy who taught me to tie was right handed, I am a lefty. Tying flies is about the only thing I can do halfway decent right handed.
Tim Anderson