History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

History of the HI Rod Co. Feel free to discuss HI Rods here.

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fishnbanjo
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History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#1

Post by fishnbanjo »

Horrocks-Ibbotson was one of America's largest production rod companies for many
years, competing head to head with Montague and South Bend. This company that
came to be known as the World's Largest Manufacturer of Fishing Tackle traces
its history to 1812 but did not become involved with fishing tackle until 1863
when an English immigrant named James Horrocks was hired as a clerk. In 1894,
Edward Ibbotson was hired as an errand boy. Gradually the company acquired
existing tackle companies. In 1905 the company built a new factory in Utica, New
York and continued to grow until it was known throughout the world. The firm was
incorporated in 1909 as the Horrocks-Ibbotson Co.

The rods made
by Horrocks-Ibbotson in the years up to 1935 filled every niche in the rod
making business. The high grade rods such as the President and the Chancellor
featured nickel silver fittings and were as good as any rods being produced by
the competition. At the other end of the spectrum were the cheapest production
rods. H-I made literally hundreds of different models throughout the years, and
many had such minor differences in fittings and wraps that they were
indistinguishable without direct comparison.

Decals are useful
for dating Horrocks-Ibbotson rods. The diamond with the UTK logo dates from 1905
until World War I. This logo is usually stamped into the reel seat, but also
appears as a decal. The Trout logo decal was then used until 1929. It is rarely
seen and is the most beautiful of the H-I decals. Next to appear was an
elongated Double Diamond with Utica, NY inside; it was used until 1933. In 1934,
a double-diamond logo including the banner reading Best by Test was introduced
and was used until 1939. Next came the fanciest of all H-I decals featuring a
bright red H-I on a white diamond and accompanied by two banners reading Fish
Rod and Genuine Tonkin Cane. The decal of the early 1950's was rectangular with
a small gold foil diamond logo. The final decal was a simple red diamond with a
large white H-I.

If you are trying to identify a rod that has no
decal, the writing of the model name is helpful. 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. The reel seats did not change much; the spacers were usually solid color
plastic before World War II, and marbleized plastic after the war. As with all
rods, the most recent H-I products are most commonly seen.

Cunningham 9' 3-piece $325
President 9' 3-piece $250
Chancellor 8½' 3-piece $250
Old HI's HiTest 8½'
or 9' 3-piece $225
Vernley 8½' or 9' 3-piece $225
Canada Creek 8' 3-piece $250
Cascade 8½' or 9'
3-piece $225
Spinner 8½' or 9' 3-piece $225
Governor 9' 3-piece $200
Beaverkill 8½' or 9'
3-piece $225
Black River 6½' to 8½' 3-piece $175
Favorite 9' 3-piece $200
The Old Gold 9' 3-piece
$200
Expert 9' 3-piece $200
Senator 9' 3-piece
$200
Togo Special 9' 3-piece $175
Black Beauty
9' 3-piece $175
Steel Cane 9' 3-piece $175
Hexrod 9' 3-piece $175
Harvey 9' 3-piece $150
Davis 9' 3-piece $150
Golden Rod 9' 3-piece $150
Featherweight 8½' or 9' 3-piece $150
Utica 9'
3-piece $125
Roosevelt 9' 3-piece $125
Mayflower
9' 3-piece $125
Hudson 9' 3-piece $125
Majestic
9' 3-piece $125
Jay-Dee-Jay 9' 3-piece $100
Adirondack 9'
3-piece $100
Catskill 9' 3-piece $100
Ike Walton
9' 3-piece $100
Lucky Strike 9' 3-piece $100
Fairy 9' 3-piece $100
National Sportsman 9'
3-piece $100
Oriskany 9' 3-piece $100

Two-Piece Rods:

Sportsman Sierra 7'9" 5 oz. $200
Pocono 7' 4 oz. $225
Tonka Prince 7' 4¼ oz. $225
Tonka Princess 7 or 7½' 4½ oz. $225
Tonka Queen
7'9" 5 oz. $250
Tonka King 7½' 4½ oz. $250

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vinsense
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History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#2

Post by vinsense »

~ Fishbanjo, Thank you so very much for your prompt reply to the inquiry about the comparative status of the H-I Cunningham fly rod with respect to the ranking of their many models. I've enjoyed many years of correspondence and perusal of offerings on the Classic Rods Forum, and thank you also for your past service to that group. Your response to my question(s) is highly regarded, and will be cached in my permanent 'Rodmakers' file.                                                                                    Best regards,    Vince Brannick

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fishnbanjo
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History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#3

Post by fishnbanjo »

You are most welcome Vince, especially since your inquiry allowed me to present the rod correctly by fixing the error of where it stood in H&I's model structure, enjoy the rod.

DanielCahill
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History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#4

Post by DanielCahill »

Hi i know almost nothing about fishing rods and my uncle just gave me a 7' harrocks ibbotson thunderbird spinning rod. it has the 1465XL on it. it is in perfect condition. can you please tell me the value of this rod because i have no use for it.


Thanks.


Dan


btw he also gave me 5 other rods, if possible can you help me identify the value of those. thanks again

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BambooTips
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History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#5

Post by BambooTips »

Banjo,


I have a friend who asked me about the value of an H-I rod. I didn't see the model he had listed above. He said that:


It's a 3 piece 9 ft split bamboo fly rod. Label states Horrocks - Ibbotson Co. Utica. N.Y. In a semi-circle at the top of the label, then 3 water looking lines then the word FLASH.



Any ideas??


Thanks!
----------------
Todd Talsma

www.bamboorodmaking.com - Webmaster
www.powerfibers.com - Editor

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fishnbanjo
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History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#6

Post by fishnbanjo »

Since the rods listed here come directly from catalogs I either own or had been able to see I will need to do a bit of digging to find out about your Flash, welcome aboard.

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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#7

Post by Caneghost »

I have my grandfather's and was thinking it was a Columbia but I got it out and it is a Hudson 3 piece. I remembered it as 8 1/2 but it is 9 feet. Decal is elongated double diamond gold outer and red inner and says "Horrocks-Ibbotson Co." on the top edge of the outer diamond, "Makers of Fishing Tackle" on the bottom edge of the outer diamond, and "Utica New York" in the red inner diamond.

Reel seat is chrome downlocking and the ferrules are also chrome I think. I had it refinished and rewrapped 20 years ago so I could fish it occasionally. Last time I did was more than a decade ago when I took it to the Deerfiled River in Mass. where Pap loved to fish.

The rod is rather slow as I recall with the old DT6F line I have. From the decal I guess it is pre-1935?
...a wink of gold like the glint of sunlight on polished cane...

brightwatercatskill.art.blog

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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#8

Post by Canewrap »

I was talking to Marty Keane once, about 15 years ago, and I don't know how or why the subject of H-I came up, but he went on and on about how H-I has such a bad rap, but that they did make some good rods. The only good H-I made rods I've come across are the Tonka series and as far as I know no one has seen a Tonka King. I really wonder what the difference is between the Sierra that's listed and the Tonka Queen. Its no wonder that the Tonka Queen is such a nice rod, since its taper is basically a 7'9" version of the PHY Martha Marie (very well respected rod for its power and feel). I had an H-I Governor once and I just couldn't get to work for me

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JiminILL
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#9

Post by JiminILL »

Hello,I found this most interesting sight trying to date a couple of Horrocks-Ibbotson rods I picked up for my vintage fishing collection.The information posted was most helpfull,thank you.Here's some pictures of the decals-
Image

Image

Trademark stamped in metal.Sorry for the poor photo,it was so shiny it was reflecting the camera back into the picture-


Image

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JiminILL
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#10

Post by JiminILL »

Here's some screen shots of some more H-I decals gleaned from e-bay this morning.The first one I've not seen before-

ImageImageImageImageImage

nofish
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#11

Post by nofish »

I have a Vernley H-I dry fly rod that has a diamond with H-I in it and Vernley written next to it on the shaft. It also says Genuine Tunkin Cane. This rod came from our family camp on Lake Otsego in New York. I would like to know if anyone knows when this rod was manufactured. I would also like to know if this is a rod I should use as a beginner dry fly fisher or should I hang it on the wall. Thank you for your insight in advance.

Mapsguy1955
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#12

Post by Mapsguy1955 »

I just received a "Woodsman" Custom Built that looks pretty old. I believe it is glass, but a 2 piece with metal ferrules... Is this worth keeping for anything more than sentimental value? I believe it was my Dad's first fly rod so it would probably been from the 30's...

jeffkn1
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#13

Post by jeffkn1 »

H-I glass was produced in pretty good volume and the Woodsman is a common one, so it won't likely attain a high value anytime soon. You may want to put a line on it and throw a few casts out on the lawn before passing it on to someone else. A lot of those 50's & 60's glass sticks were user-friendly.
If you poke around at http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/ you may find more details on that series. Ebay is a good source for current values.

fireh2o
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#14

Post by fireh2o »

I just purchased a "Canada Creek", H-I rod. I would appreciate any information that would help me determine the line wt to use. Thanks.

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Skeet1969
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#15

Post by Skeet1969 »

Fishnbanjo, I have been collecting these for the past couple of years when time (and $) allows. I recently picked up a H-I "Lucky Ace" model. It is very very similar to my Beaverkills. Would you be interested in pictures or anything? Let me know.
Mike B
:)

Rmnyc
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#16

Post by Rmnyc »

Thank you Banjo for the info above. Have you or anyone else in the forum heard of the model called Buddy? It is 6 3/4 ft long and two piece.

Thank you for your help

WolfmanDan
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#17

Post by WolfmanDan »

I have an H-I rod I don't think you listed. It has the Red H-I in a white diamond, an Indian head and his headdress goes over the top of the whole decal, it says Mohawk under the headdress, and below that it says Custom Deluxe Grade, and off to the side is #705. It has wood above and below the reel, black fiberglass, orange threading with gold accents, and is about 6 feet. Any information would be great. Thank you

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Shrimpman
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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#18

Post by Shrimpman »

This section is more a compendium of models than a forum for Q&A. I suggest posting in the "Information about..." section if you are seeking details on a rod, in "Appraisals" if it is a resale value you are seeking. Regards,
Shrimpy

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Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods Question

#19

Post by PissedOffPirate »

I recently acquired a Horrocks-Ibbotson Goldenrod. No idea the value but its in good shape, everything intect, but missing the H &I decal. Marblelized plastic reel seat and aluminum nut. I've no idea about the weights on these as I've never fished a bamboo. I have an old Battenkill MK III that I thought I'd try out. Any ideas? Comments?

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Re: History and value of Horrocks-Ibbotson Rods

#20

Post by snorider »

Despite your disillusionment with the life of a privateer you sir have a Horrocks Ibbotson rod that is, although of little value in the way of gold, a fine thing to set afloat with on a pond or river. It should cast a 7wt +/- 1wt and may just turn up a jewel or two from the depths. Best of Luck to you.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

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