Mitchell Reel Forum

I ran across this piece of information as I explore. Can anyone confirm it?

"The Mitchell Factory ran on a fiscal year and not on a calender year. Their fiscal or accounting year was from September 1st through August 31st. Each year the factory would close down for the entire month of August and they would go on Holiday. Everyone except those who came to the factory to make tool and dye changes to the assembly line that is.
For this reason several things occurred including the fact that you will never find any Mitchell reel made in August. It also created a dating problem as they would restart on September 1st and stop production on July 30th of the following year so the dates overlapped a calender year."

If true, then this might explain some of the serial number series crossing over from 1 year into the next calendar year as questioned in this thread: https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/forum/vi ... 2ef3f25b26

In his book "Les Moulinets Mitchell" published in 1999 Luc de Medts wrote "l'annee comptable commencait au 1/09 pour se terminer au 30/09" : the accounting year started on 1/09 and ended on 30/09. I have found no evidence to support this suggestion. If the year began on 1/09 it would have ended on 31/08.

It should be noted that the production records compiled by Emile Pugeot are on a regular calendar year basis.

Luc also stated that the factory was closed during August. Some discussion took place on this on this Forum some time ago. The normal holiday entitlement in the 1950's in Europe was 2 weeks.

Monthly production records are available for 1954 and these show reel production in August. The numbers for this month are lower than those for other months which chimes with the factory being closed for 2 weeks during August.

When the Julian dating system began to be used around March 1974 reels could be dated to a day. I have seen very few reels from this period so cannot comment as to whether reels were produced in August. A reel produced in August would have the first 3 numbers between 212 or 213 (depending on whether it's a leap year) and 243 or 244. The last 2 numbers would be 08. I don't think reels made before 1974 can be dated to a month.

Members who own post 1974 reels can perhaps confirm whether reels were produced during August at that time.

Hi jtwill98,

I am truly sorry I did not see this post sooner but I’ll be happy to confirm that everything you say in your post is true! So true in fact that I am shocked anyone would say anything different! Keep going on with your studies, it appears you have good reliable sources. Don’t let wannabes discourage you in your work.

Kindest Regards,
Wallace

Wallace,

Welcome back to the forum after a long and understandable absence. I hope your medical problems are behind you or at minimal being managed. Your presence has been missed.

And, thank you for the kind words. While I continue to research and discuss the history and issues with many of the Mitchell collectors, I am sadden by the lack of interest and level of discussions on this forum and elsewhere.

While, I tried to generate discussion and interests through some questions and replies, I see too many persons viewing and not enough replies to keep me wanting to contribute. I admit that I'm a novice to all the history and research on Mitchell reels and than many of my questions and replies seem trivial.

I just wish the others on the forum would engage and would speak up. Discussions are a many person conversation. If one persons make another's persons question or replies on discussion content seem trivial or non-interesting (no replies), then it should be understandable for that person to pull back.

I really hate to say this, but the forum seems lost without your contributions.

You appear to be the person who put so much of your time into the site and kept this site going which you should be proud of that accomplishment.
Thank you for your work!

I only wish the site still had the content of the 2018 site, so much content, history and discussion has been lost.

-John

Hi John,

Thank you for your kind words mate. That really means a lot. I’m very happy to be back but fear it might last long. I’ve gotten way too old, tired and crippled to make a solid contribution, but I’ll try. You have said so much that needs a response but I’ll hit on what I feel is most important.

The biggest reason people don’t engage more (or at all) is that they don’t want to get attacked by the despicable idiots among us who claim to be the experts? LOL I’ve been attacked for many years on many sites and it’s not fun at all. They only attack those who don’t believe and agree with their twisted version of most everything they say regarding Mitchell.

I’ve actually seen a few collectors, even close friends of mine, who get brainwashed into believing their nonsense. Take a lie, surround it with a few facts and bury it deep inside a lot of meaningless information and what do you get? Brainwashed!

There’s especially one who has done more to destroy our hobby than anyone else has to date. There have been others going back 16 years and longer. Why? No one knows!! They all have had one thing in common, they are all egomaniacs. I wonder who that could be?

John, I hate to post negative things but I have it built deep inside to protect the history, legacy and integrity of the Mitchell brand especially on this website! Keep up the good work and I’ll look forward to your next comments.

Best Regards,
Wallace