JC Higgins, Sea Spray fishing rods sold as split bamboo

Today I paid 12.50$ per rod for these old split bamboo (fly fishing? Seem to have slight corrosion from salt water jersey shore is 50 miles away but creeks are down the street from my house that people fly fish at) I negotiated down from 50$ To 25$ for the pair. I wasn't even aware there were two rods in the bag but pulling half of one out I saw their age and thought my father would love to have an old rod. New ones cost a darn bit more than $25 so I figured I was safe spending that. Seller @ thrift store said they had sat around for quite some time hence the 50% discount.
Any idea of age? Model? Are both wall hangers, usable quality(wood is not broken that I saw) or are they junkers? I know sea spray was made here locally in Philadelphia if the rod is to be trusted. How about JC Higgins? The JC is in better condition than the Sea Spray but both have cracked metal where the two halves meet. The rods seem hexagonal, not round. No reels were included did I pay too much for slightly damaged and worn rods? Sorry I had to crop the pictures to get file size under 1mb maxim. Each rod is in 2 pieces. 7 foot or more per rod. I will measure them later today

 

Hi,
Really nice rods. Looks to be late 30s early 40s.
greg

 

I've never seen fishing rods on this forum before, hope we have someone who knows something. My knowledge of the area is sub-minuscule, but I'm pretty sure they are worth what you paid for them, if not a tad more.

 

Jc Higgins is a sears and Roebucks brand according to my dad and internet searching easily confirms this. That rod is no more than 108 years old and no less than 55 years old, for sure. The other I am having trouble finding date info on.. all I have to go off of is gregs post^

 

I think you got a good deal. I can't see the complete rods but these are not fly rods. Bamboo rods used to sell in the $50.00 - $100.00 range back when there was a strong market. I don't know what they go for these days. Fishing collectibles have seemed somewhat immune to some of the dips in values we have seen elsewhere so maybe have held value.

 

Thanks! I am going to hold onto them for a few years until i can find period correct reels to put on them. Good to know these bad boys were made for the kind of fishing i like to do and not fly fishing !

 

I bet these are for surf casting.

 

I own and have used some surf rods. Ill have to measure them and see how long they are. Or find the jc higgins listing in a Sears catalog (if it exists)

 

You shouldn't have to crop.
Just resize to 480xwhatever other number falls into place.

 

Just for you, o great king of the territory known as things, I will now size future posts to 480xwhatever....as soon as I figure out how

 

I'm not the only one who likes this but usually only 1 of 2 who usually bother to ask.
I do this with all of mine for everyone.

 

I want as many people to enjoy the items i am collecting *cough (hoarding). So i will oblige gladly

 

I truly hope so! I haven't been able to see anything you have posted, and while I probably can't assist with an ID, I sure do want to see the neato stuff!

 

Alright today's goals: buy more stuff at A local thrift store and post it with correctness so it's viewable by all. Mission: start..

 

And here's a wee bit of help getting those FULL IMAGE SIZES up onto the site: Happy Posting!!!!!

 

Thanks, Aquitaine, but we all keep saying this and getting ignored.

 

This is a little vague, but looks like J. C. Higgins brand was added to fishing equipment by the 1940s:
http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/jchiggins.htm