abbey fishing rod

Question
hi,i have aquired a large amount of rods some old.there is one that i can not find info on..its a 3 piece vintage rod and only has written on it by hand..blue streak by abbey..any ideas please..many thanks..tony

Answer
Hi Tony,

I would assume the rod is one sold by Abbey & Imbrie of New York.  A&I was a retailer and had rods made for them by a number of quality rod makers.  The company existed from 1875 to about 1930 when it was sold to Horrocks-Ibbotson.  My reference book does not list a specific model called Blue Streak, but it doesn't list very many A&I models.

If the model name is hand written on the rod and it happens to be written in white ink (may look gold under the varnish); then it is likely a rod built by Horrocks-Ibbotson.  H-I provided quality fly rods to A&I over the entire life of the company.

Value is not possible unless we can tie down the actual rod maker.  If you are interested, send me a photo of the rod at [email protected] and some additional information like rod length, number of rod sections present, wrap colors, condition. etc.  I'll look it over and see if I can do more.

Thanks,  Joe