Question
bamboo rod
Joe,
I recently purchased a split Bamboo rod at a garage sale, it's 9 ft 4 inches long. It has an inscription on it on the upper half of the rod witch reads Macy's in yellow cursive writting.I asked the man who had the sale if it was his rod and he said , no it had been in the basement since he moved into the house over 30 yrs ago.This rod has two eyelets on it across from each other 22 inches down from the tip. I was told these rod were not mass manufactured for just everyone and that they were custom made for specific people who placed orders for them. It also came with some type of green cloth storage and the only marks on that are the letters HARD GR and the rest is missing.It appears to be made with stainless steel.I will try to attach some pictures. Can you give me any information on this and what kind of value would you put on this rod?
Thx,
Mike
AnswerHi Mike,
There have been several rods reported lately with the "Macy's" inscription on them. Of course, Macy's is a retail outlet and had the rods made for them by someone else for sale with the "Macy's" name on them. The maker of the rod is Horrocks-Ibbotson based on what I know of the other Macy's rods I've seen. There are usually two give-aways on these rods...one, many have an H-I label in addition to the private label...two, the inscription in white ink running toward the reel seat (the ink looks yellow due to the varnish) is a standard H-I method of marking rods. The green cloth storage bag is typical H-I as well. This one is a variation of the H-I "West Coast" big game fishing rod.
H-I was the world's largest tackle maker of its time and did mass produce rods of all types. They did a great deal of private label rod making which means they took rods from their normal production runs and put someone else's name on the rods. They made private label rods for dozens, if not hundreds, of other companies and retail outlets.
The reel seat and ferrule is German Silver which is nickel plated brass; it will stand up well to prolonged use as long as you keep it clean. This rod has a butt section that looks like it could have been used as a surf rod more than a boat rod. It may or may not have had additional guides on it originally. Placing guides opposite each other allowed you to turn the rod to the other side occasionally or before each fishing trip to work the bamboo fibers on each side of the rod equally and avoid a set or permanent curve from developing in the rod.
This rod in Good-Very Good condition would have a book value in the $40-$60 range; and in Excellent-Mint condition would have a book value in the $80-$100 range. Realistically, this style of rod does not sell as high as the book value in most instances. However, this type of rod is enjoying a renewed surge of interest in the last couple of years. More and more of them are being brought out of the attic and basement to be refurbished and made useful again. They art good fishing rods.
Thanks, Joe
