SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1912-1952

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wrong66
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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#21

Post by wrong66 »

The 1947 SHAKESPEARE catalog. Tackle production resumes after the war, with Shakespeare offering only (3) models of bamboo fly rods.

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#22

Post by wrong66 »

SHAKESPEARE'S 1948 catalog.

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#23

Post by wrong66 »

The 1949 SHAKESPEARE catalog. They now offer (4) bamboo models.

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Last edited by wrong66 on 11/17/17 15:41, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#24

Post by wrong66 »

The 1950 SHAKESPEARE catalog. The number of bamboo models offered is increased to (5).

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#25

Post by wrong66 »

The 1951 SHAKESPEARE catalog. Bamboo fly rods scaled back to just (3) models.

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#26

Post by wrong66 »

The 1952 SHAKESPEARE catalog. These three models would be the last appearance ever for bamboo fly rods from Shakespeare. Between the increasing success of their glass Wonderods (there were now (12) glass fly rod models and growing) and the 1952 Korean War Trade Embargo with China, bamboo rod production was done for.

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This concludes the Shakespeare Catalog thread. If anyone can help fill in some of the years I don't have images for, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.
Mark

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#27

Post by jhcoffeebum »

Thank you very much Mark. I just opened this topic and don’t have time right now to study the pages but was wondering if on any of the pages, does Shakespeare mention Gene Edwards as a contracted builder of any of the models?
Jack
But your flag decal won't get you into Heaven anymore
They're already overcrowded from your dirty little war
Now Jesus don't like killin', no matter what the reason's for
And your flag decal won't get you into Heaven anymore

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wrong66
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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#28

Post by wrong66 »

No, Shakespeare never revealed that any of the rods they offered might have been supplied to them. That would have been bad business, anyway.
Mark

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#29

Post by teter »

Mark,
Great work, again.
Speaking of Gene Edwards, I have a couple examples of the 9-foot Shakespeare 1307 "Tony Accetta Model," clearly made by Gene. The reel seat sounds like the one listed for the 1307 Premier in the 1938 catalog. But where does the 1307 Tony Accetta Model fit into the Shakespeare lineup? Prewar, the 1307 Premier is listed as a wet-fly action with a gumwood, later black plastic, reel seat, and postwar as a snap-locking reel seat, either a 1307 or 1308. I see mentions of Tony Accetta as endorsing them but no specific mention of a 1307 that specifically had his name, rather than "Premier," on it. Maybe I'm overlooking it in the catalogs? Or was it uncatalogued for some reason? Or was the 1307 Tony Accetta Model just understood to be a Premier under another name? Any information you have on this would be appreciated.


Thanks
Lon

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wrong66
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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#30

Post by wrong66 »

It's hard to say, having never seen a Shakespeare rod marked as the "Premier". Catalogs are vague in that respect and never state anything regarding rod shaft markings. Printed toward the end of the previous year, model changes of any kind during a certain year, if any, wouldn't be reflected in catalogs anyway. The "Accetta" model could have been a promotional version of the "Premier" supplied by Edwards, or they all could have been marked as "Accetta" models for the entire time Edwards built them for Shakespeare. Personally, I believe all the No.1307 rods produced by Edwards were likely marked as "Accetta" models. Later pre-war versions of the No.1307 were built by South Bend. It would interesting to compare markings on one of those with yours. The No.1114 "Criterion" casting rod was offered by Shakespeare for roughly 20 years. I've handled several of them, yet none were marked "Criterion". A couple were marked "Tony Accetta Special", obviously made during the time Accetta was their spokesman. Trade rods often create more questions than answers. Your guess is as good as mine. Very nice rod, Lon.
Mark

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#31

Post by teter »

Mark,
Thanks for both the explanation and the compliment.

Lon

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#32

Post by teter »

Looking through my files, Mark, I realize that I bought this rod from you! I had completely forgotten that. And it IS very nice.

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#33

Post by headwaters »

Mark, thanks very much for posting this fabulous research material.

Rupert

wrong66
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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#34

Post by wrong66 »

teter wrote:Looking through my files, Mark, I realize that I bought this rod from you! I had completely forgotten that. And it IS very nice.
Wow, that must have been awhile back. I searched what's left of my memory and came up empty. Small world.
Mark

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#35

Post by wrong66 »

All photos erased! Again!

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#36

Post by nunc »

wrong66 wrote:All photos erased! Again!

Anybody receive a Ransom Note yet so we at least know what their demands are … ?

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#37

Post by DUCKMANNM »

Great work on the catalog pages. I have other questions though. Were Shakespeare bamboo fly rods considered good, or well made, quality fly rods? And were they made by the Shakespeare Company or by someone else making rods for them? I think that was called "Trade Rods?"

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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#38

Post by Southfork »

Thank you for posting these catalogs. Finally found my 1314L in print!

wrong66
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Re: SHAKESPEARE Fly Rod Catalog Listings, 1925-1952

#39

Post by wrong66 »

DUCKMANNM wrote:Great work on the catalog pages. I have other questions though. Were Shakespeare bamboo fly rods considered good, or well made, quality fly rods? And were they made by the Shakespeare Company or by someone else making rods for them? I think that was called "Trade Rods?"
Shakespeare offered many different levels of quality in their rod lineup, many of which were high-grade. With companies like Edwards, Heddon, South Bend and Montague supplying Shakespeare with their rods since the 1920's, one can assume just about every quality level was available at one time. Shakespeare apparently did produce their own rods in-house, during the first quarter of the century, although info on these are rather sketchy.
Mark

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