little more than a century ago, a man named William Shakespeare - not the playwright, but a talented jeweler - had a passion.  He loved fishing.  He also had a frustration: tangled line on his fishing reel.  So, being a skilled craftsman with small mechanisms, he invented the level-wind fishing reel.  It worked well.  William caught lots of fish.  His friends were so impressed with his innovative new reel that William found himself spending more time making reels for them than he was devoting to his jeweler trade.

In 1897, he founded the Shakespeare Company to make the reels for the rest of the world, and the level wind mechanism he invented still forms the basis of many fishing reels to this day.

William loved making products better and more efficiently, and his new company prospered.  If something wasn't good enough for him, it wasn't good enough for a customer.  Improvements and innovation became a way of life for the young company, and steered its successful course into the 20th Century.  For example, the Shakespeare Company pioneered the use of fiberglass in making some of the world's lightest, strongest rods ever - for fishing, among other applications.

Over the years, the Shakespeare Company has innovated in many fields besides fishing reels, achieving worldwide dominance of many of the markets it serves.  It's quite likely that you've heard of Shakespeare marine antennas, for example.  They are known the world over for innovation, quality, and dependability.  The militaries of the world depend on Shakespeare for antenna technology, design, and manufacture, and maybe you've heard of those, too.

Today, in every one of its diverse businesses, the Shakespeare Company continues that hundred-year-old tradition of innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction.  Now, and into the next century.