What's the history behind the manual bail? Did someone think this through in the lab (reduce weight/complexity issues, etc)? Or did some jetty jock in the 40's break his bail during a fall, cut it free and said, "Hey this still works"?

Funny, but long before I ever heard of such a thing, I did just as you suggested.
That is, as a kid (many days ago) I broke the wire and found it still worked. :heybaby:

Th bail removal came about through necessity. As the saying goes:
"necessity is the mother of invention.
The Penn 704's have the uncanny ability to break a bail spring right in the middle of a blitz. That's one reason but the main reason is that the bail will snap shut on a hard cast as the spring weakens. I once snapped off 4 Gibbs Bottle plugs at Watch Hill in the middle of a Nov bass blitz. This was back when Gibbs Plugs were the ticket and Stan was still making 'em. We started taking the bail off and one of the guys who was a machinist made us some manual rollers. Then Penn got wind of this and started selling a retro-fit for $5.00. I don't know if they still do.

My guess is it came from the old half bail reels such as the Ru-Mer, Centaur, Airex, etc.. and just sort od developed. The bail less reels were first used in freshwater, so the use in SW seems natrual. There is a great old book I have about the birth of spin fishing in the surf scene. I'll dig it up in a bit and post the name. It discusses the developement of spinning reels in surf fishing after WWII. Not so much a how to book as a history book.

Then Penn got wind of this and started selling a retro-fit for $5.00. I don't know if they still do.

The still make them, tho the days when they were $5 are over.

Mitchell made a manual pickup for the 302 long before Penn did, and then later on, the 380/480 and 490 series started coming thru with manual pick-ups installed.

I think Penn still sells manual bail conversion kits. Someone once gave me one for my 6500ss. I have another of the same reel, and I'll probably cut and grind that bail wire, as well.
Toby, please do post the title and author of that book, I'd like to read it.

Toby, please do post the title and author of that book, I'd like to read it.
It is called "Spinning for Saltwater Game Fish", by Joseph D. Bates, Jr., copyright 1957.

That sounds like a good read. Was able to find it on the net. I saw that Mitchell had a manual pick up in the early 50's. If it did start in freshwater, wonder if it was more of a gimmick (cost savings) than anything else. Then when you move to heavy saltwater fishing, weight savings and unreliable bail systems (snap-offs) make it more of a practical necesssity.