In this installment of "Western Michigan at work," Dr. Willis Dunbar talks about the history of the Shakespeare Company in Kalamazoo. He shares how William Shakespeare Jr. experimented with devices to wind fishing line and eventually created the first level wind reel in 1896. While he wasn't the first or only person making a mechanical reel, his design was the first to become successful commercially, and helped escalate the sport of bait casting. He also then created a new reel to address the problem of backlash, which is prevented using slight breaks. This attracted amateurs to bait casting that otherwise would have been frustrated by backlash. Dr. Dunbar talks about how they paused production during the war to create remote firing devices and shafts for machine gun turrets. Dr. Dunbar speaks in the studio with factory worker Lawrence Haner about his work as a "setup man" on an automatic screw machine. He also speaks with assistant foreman Harold Underwood about the 30 employees he oversees.
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