At my boys house and he pulled this out! It's direct drive so you let the handle go when the fish is pullin and the handle spins! 
Then you push on the leather to slow the spool and handle down till you can reel again anyone ever fished with one? seems like an awesome way to break a finger tryin to catch the handle mid spin!!!!! 
hahaha i would love to fish that
I'm thinkin bout borrowin it if he'll let me! Its like one step above a handline 
a guy from back in Cali posted this pic not too long ago when he was out after mako
It might be worth adding to a newer reel just ta make it easier to thumb the spool
That leather gets pretty hot rather quickly. Had a friend that hooked a shark on a reel just like that in the late 1960's. He wasn't making much progress slowing the shark down and I heard him yell and pull his thumbs away from the leather. "I'll stop that sucker", he said as he turned his head sideways to watch and time the backwards spinning handle. I remember the grinding noise that came from the reel when he grabbed the handle and then it was in free spool as he continued to hold on 'till all his line was gone. That really happened on the South side of the Skyway Bridge.
Jeeeezzzz! we got it easy dese days! Glad so many folks put there time in to progress us to where we are at today!