This is the board to ask about the identity, or for an appraisal, of a rod. Please use the outline as explained on the board. If there is a makers name, list that in the subject line. Make sure you include the length, number of sections, any identifying markings and the general condition. Adding photographs is always helpful!
I've added some new information to my original text below:
9' Wilson rod with what I've always called a "Shakespeare" reelseat.
Decal reads:
Made in Wilson Rod
Portland Ore
For comparison - two photo's of my unmarked (rewrapped?) Shakespeare:
Interesting that Wilson claimed "Made in Portland, Ore". Did Shakespeare made these rods or was it South Bend or Cross? Also, what time period would this be since the decal name states "Wilson Rod" and not Thomas Wilson or Thomas Wilson and Sons.
NEW
After being in contact with a forum member that's looking into the Wilson Portland, Oregon ties (or lack of ties) to the Thomas Wilson Company I uncovered some new information too. At present there was a photo for sale on eBay that's: "1931 Press Photo Frank E. Bacon Manager Wilson Goods Store in Portland" - that photo is coming to me.
I found a Frank Edward Bacon in the 1940 census and he's listed as a manufacturers agent in the sporting goods industry.
Quoted from William Calvert Bacon's written history:
"When Frank was ten years old he sold newspapers. Later he worked in is Dad's barber shop in Davis and washed out bathtubs at the Fire Station. The family moved to Sacramento, where he was active at the Athletic Club and managed the local baseball team until he hurt his knee. He married Belinda Schapp (Melinda) and had two children: Frank E. Jr. and Zelpha. Frank Sr. divorced Belinda (Melinda) and married Henrietta C. Wright. They lived for a time in Oakland, where their son William C. was born June 16, 1921. Frank traveled as a salesman for Wilson Sporting Goods Co. so in 1928 they moved to Seattle, Washington, where their daughter Lois C. was born August 29, 1928. The family later moved to Portland, Oregon where Frank managed the company's store until 1936. During World War II he served the Army as a civilian auditor."
If this rod was made for them by Shakespeare or the same rod supplier if Shakespeare didn't make their own rods (in this time period) is a second issue. I'm not getting into that one at present.
Still to be solved is why "Made in Portland Ore" is on the label. Was Wilson trying to sell these rods as local produced rod? Or just a standard decal label that they used on all Portland sold sporting goods?
Last edited by OldCane on 06/08/16 07:10, edited 4 times in total.
Everything about the rod is a match for Shakespeares of the time.
It's walking like a duck and quacking like a duck, but I'm still not sure it's a duck.
jeffkn1 wrote:Everything about the rod is a match for Shakespeares of the time.
It's walking like a duck and quacking like a duck, but I'm still not sure it's a duck.
I guess you mean is it a Shakespeare-made duck or a South Bend-made duck?
In any case they are nice looking rods. I really like the winding check design.
I don't think South Bend had anything to do with this rod. Hardware, grip profile, butt swell, and cosmetics are all Shakespeare. Did Shakespeare make this for Wilson or did they supply components? I'm inclined to think they supplied the whole rod but I haven't come across any documentation yet supporting that practice. It's difficult to imagine a company buying trade rods from Montague, South Bend, and Heddon at various times and yet supplying their own in-house manufactured rods to retailers, unless......it was a matter of them doing it only up to a point and then essentially shutting their rod operations.
Don't know but would like to.
jeffkn1 wrote:..... It's difficult to imagine a company buying trade rods from Montague, South Bend, and Heddon at various times and yet supplying their own in-house manufactured rods to retailers, unless......it was a matter of them doing it only up to a point and then essentially shutting their rod operations.
Don't know but would like to.
Maybe some one will stumble upon some old Shakespeare records one day and solve this question.
Or maybe we should start calling these hard to define Shakespeare rods as Marlowe rods. There's a large group of people that believe Christopher Marlowe wrote the Shakespeare plays.
Hey folks I have a Wilson also marked make in Portland Or. With that bag also marked the same way. While looking around for more info on this 8'er I came across something interesting on the Bay. It was a mill from the Wilson shop in Portland Or and was marked on the crate I think. So my guess was they made the rods in house. This was a few years ago that I stumbled on this mill so some details could be off but I do remember the description as the mill for the Wilson rod co.
Wilson Western Sporting Goods and Wilson Rod Shop are two different entities.
From the Portland, OR city directories 1932 - 1943:
Wilson Western Sporting Goods (later changed to Wilson Sporting Goods) is listed under "Sporting Goods - Wholesale". It is managed by Frank E Bacon from 1932 to 1940 when Frank is listed as a sporting goods manufacturer's agent.
Wilson Rod Shop is listed under "Fishing Tackle and Rods - Manufacturers" and is owned by John W Wilson and his wife Leila. The rod ship is first listen in the 1937 directory. There are no online directories for '35 and '36, so John may have opened the shop as early as '35, but he was certainly in business in '37. The shop is still listed in '40. There's nothing online in '41 & '42, but in 1943 John is still listed at the same address and it appears he's unemployed.
I doubt seriously that Frank E Bacon and Wilson Sporting Goods had anything to do with John's Wilson Rod Shop.
I've recently come across a Wilson rod as well. Mine is constructed a little more like this viewtopic.php?f=69&t=88949&hilit=wilson just not nearly as nice. The one below appears to have the "brown tone" as mentioned in advertisement in the previous post with the addition of some red and silver paint liberally applied by a less than gentle hand sometime in the past 70-80 years. Definitely a candidate for refinishing although I wish they had left the cork alone...
Thought I would resurrect this old post: I purchased two Wilson Rods recently at an estate sale in Portland - there were 3 for sale. It appears to me that they were manufactured here, or at least finished here in Portland as both rods had the name of the person whose estate it was in ink under the varnish. Another unique item is the very long wrap that is done on the tips. I have seen this on at least one other Wilson rod. The varnish on both rods is soft and as I was stripping it I was somewhat shocked to see that one of the tip sections had what appears to be a piece of fiberglass spliced into the tip!! I didn't notice it at first as the color is the same as the old varnish. After closer inspection it looks like they wrapped that entire section - possbily it was damaged. It flexes just a bit stiffer than the regular tip section.
Just wondering if anybody has seen this type of construction before???
