horrocks & Ibbotson bamboo fly rod

Question
QUESTION: i have a Horrocks and Ibbotson out of Utica New York, 3 piece, cork handle, reel below handle, "Canada Creek" model 7ft, silver joint with brown wrap rod in excellent condition. What is it? and is it worth anything?

ANSWER: Lael,
The "silver joint " is a ferrule and is probably chrome platted brass.
In my book, Antique & Collectable Fishing Rods: Identification & Value Guide Homel, Dan. 1997 , he lists a
Canada Creek 8 footer 3 piece with two tips as 20, 45 and $135 for poor, good, excellent respectively. Please do not quote me for prices, Please. Can I say please again ? I doubt if you will get much on resale.
HI-s are looked down upon by the collecting community and often they are justified. They were mass produced , rather heavy and very slow. They are not going to resale for very much.
Another book available at larger libraries to get history and or value:
Bamboo Rod Restoration Handbook -Michael Sinclair
Good Luck
Mac


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Mac. The H & I logo is red inside a yellow diamond. The ferrules are definately silver, not chrome plated. the rest of the logos says impregnated bamboo with something cane. The rod was used by my father in the 50's and 60's who got it from his father.Could you tell me how old it is? thank you lael in vail

Answer
Picture or flat map of labels at
http://www.lu-c-an.com/HIlabels.bmp

The decals shown on the flat map are somewhat useful for dating rods. The Clark-Horrocks & Co. decal has been seen only once -it is quite rare and dates from c. 1900. The diamond with the UTK logo is from c. 1905 to WW I (1919). This UTK Diamond logo is usually seen stamped into the reel seat, but does appear in decal form. The Trout Logo decal was used from c. 1923 to c. 1929. It is rarely seen and is easily the most beautiful of the decals.

The trout is full color, complete with pink stripe, the sun is gold, and sets over a golden sea. Next to appear was the elongated Double Diamond with "Utica, NY" inside. In its early form, only the Diamond was used the banner reading Best By Test was not used on rod decals until later, though it was seen in catalogs and letterheads dating from 1929. The outer (larger) Diamond is gold foil with black border and printing. The inner (small) diamond is red with black print. This version was used from c. 1929 to c. 1933. In 1934, the entire double-diamond logo including the banner was used. In this form, the banner is royal blue with white letters, the outer diamond is red and the inner diamond is gold foil. This decal was used from c. 1934 to c. 1939. The fanciest of all H-I decals was the one used from c. 1945 to c. 1950. This logo featured a bright red "H-I" on a white diamond. The diamond is accompanied by two banners. The upper banner is yellow with "Fish Rod" in black. The lower banner is turquoise with black print. Sometimes the lower banner includes the words Utica, N. Y. and Made in U .S.A. The words Genuine Tonkin Cane are turquoise edged with black. The decal of the early 1950's was rectangular. This was a subdued design, with black print on an olive green background. The small diamond logo is gold foil.

The last H-I decal is a simple red diamond with a large white H-I. This logo was used beginning in 1951 in print, but did not appear on bamboo rods except those that were factory refinishes in the 1950' s. The location of the decal was sometimes higher on the rod shaft than is shown on the flat map. This is especially true of rods with elaborate signature wraps and those with intermediate wraps. If you are trying to identify a rod that has no decal, but you think it is an H-I product, look at the writing on the rod shaft. H-I used white ink, and usually wrote with the words running toward the grip. The only other maker that used white ink was Edwards, who usually wrote with the words reading away from the grip. You should have no difficulty in determining whether you are looking at an H-I vs. an Edwards. The quality difference is obvious even to a tyro. As with all rods, the most recent H-I products are the most commonly seen. The rods from 1940 through 1953 look pretty much the same. The reels eat style did not change much, and the spacers were usually solid color plastics before the war, and marbleized plastics after the war. The cuts show the entire 1949 H-I rod line; note that all rods had similar reel seats, and the grips are shaped just enough to discern a style. These rods were just about as plain vanilla as you could ever find, but had a tremendously loyal following.