Everest Brand #20 EL rod in box

Question
We recently bought a 112 year old house and found a lovely oblong box with hinges and decorative fasteners, containing a fishing rod - in the basement rafters.  The end of the box shows "Everest Brand #20 EL"   There are flies, and other things in there also.  No reel to be found..   Can you tell me anything about this and how old it might be?  Thanks for any help.  Nancee

Answer
Hello Nancee,

The "Everest" brand was a marketed after the WWII reconstruction by Japanese entrepreneurs mass producing inexpensive "bamboo" fly and fishing rods. Although you have not included any digital pictures of the case and rod, I will assume (darn I hate that word!) that it is likely to be bamboo. The actual age of the rod could range from forty to nearly sixty years. They were quite popular from the mid 1950's to the early 1960's but more for novelty than a serious fishing implement. I cannot find any evidence of "pre-war" production and since "Mt. Everest" was not conquered until 1953, the name was useless as a marketing tool before then...

In my experience, the rods were not often of high quality and I have only seen a few of them. Since these rods came with a wooden presentation case, they made wonderful gifts for visitors and Servicemen to take home.

Use caution if you or someone you love decides to fish the rod...age can make any rod of Bamboo...even the highest quality Tonkin Cane rods, brittle.  

I hope this helps a bit. Thank you for the question.

-Mark Rimmer, AllExperts.com