Reels from the past

Question
Sometime in the mid sixties I was camping & cat fishing with grandparents of family friends in Kansas.  The grandmother, Sylvia, would take a Coleman lantern to walk around the lake and check her poles several times during the night to see if she caught anything.  The reels she used I'm pretty sure we're Zebco's but the unusual feature of the reels was that the cranks were on the back of the reels rather than on the sides... Almost like a propeller on a plane engine.  Do you know what reels/models they could have been?
Thanks MDream

Answer
Hi Mike,

Yes, I swear I have seen those but I cant find anything on them.  But that said, I am not the "old tackle " expert on this site.  Please run this past Joe Douglas or Rich McGaughey on this site and they will be able to help you.

Good luck,

Marc