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Post 21 Jan 2017, 08:28 • #26 
Guide
Joined: 06/08/16
Posts: 327
Location: US-MI
I stand corrected...again. I looked through my 1941 Shakespeare catalog and there is a Wonderod, but I never noticed it because it is a bait casting rod. A cheap one at that. It is the last bamboo casting rod in the catalog, listed for $6.00 and the catalog says they must be sold in large volume just to break even. So in 1941 the wonder was that a bamboo casting rod could cost so little? The CPI inflation calculator shows $6 in 1941 is $97 in 2016.
The Wondereel is the premier reel in the 1941 catalog and is featured on both covers. What a change after the war when the 1947 catalog prominently features the new fiberglass Wonderods!


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Post 21 Jan 2017, 09:19 • #27 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Thanks for that research. "honor built, honor sold" is the slogan I remember for some Shakespeare stuff predating fiberglass. I think we all associate Wonderod with glass. I didn't realize it had some use earlier until looking at the trademark history, and you have to go deeper than that to see how much it was used, wartime having disrupted so much production and sale of so many products. Thanks again for going deeper.


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Post 21 Jan 2017, 13:43 • #28 
Guide
Joined: 06/08/16
Posts: 327
Location: US-MI
I probably spend too much time thinking (obsessing) about all of this but I try to put myself into the context of the period when this was all happening.
Dr. Howald's notes show that the first rods he gave to Shakespeare to test were in October 1945. Why? Because the war didn't end until September 1945, and Shakespeare would have faced some severe fines or prison terms if they were doing non-essential research on fishing rods during the war. I'm sure that the conversation with Dr. Howald must have been something like "yes we are interested but not until after the war." Dr. Howald would have been free to do whatever research he wanted to at home.
The US won victory in Europe in May 1945, but historians say that without the A-bomb the war with Japan would have dragged on for years due to Japan's refusal to surrender. They didn't even surrender until a month after Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Dr. Havens couldn't have anticipated the A-bomb or Japan's surrender, so Shakespeare or Narmco couldn't have anticipated a post-war period anytime soon, and the notion that Narmco would have been doing research on fishing rods in 1944 or 1945 is out of the question. They would have been up to their necks in war work with no end in sight, and making good money doing it.
The word CONOLON was filed for trademark in 1949, but Narmco states the word's first use in commerce was March 1947. This establishes priority of use, and if they had been using the word conolon any earlier they would have said so.


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Post 02 Aug 2017, 14:04 • #29 
Master Guide
Joined: 03/18/12
Posts: 461
Location: Troy Grove, IL.
How interesting to read all this history , one thing is for dang sure, Wonderods still cast fine today and that's 60 + years after it was made...


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Post 04 Aug 2017, 12:48 • #30 
Sport
Joined: 03/11/14
Posts: 89
Location: US-East Texas
..., and the Dr. Howald Purist is THE most collectable and beautiful of all. To me, the Holy Grail of fiberglass.


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Post 04 Aug 2017, 14:21 • #31 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/04/12
Posts: 705
Location: SE Pa
Quote:
I probably spend too much time thinking (obsessing) about all of this but I try to put myself into the context of the period when this was all happening.

No I don't think so ....... and I agree with your earlier post that collecting fiberglass rods is gaining popularity and now is the time to get the facts out, while some of the people who were involved with or are knowledgeable of their evolution can still contribute.

I seriously enjoy reading posts from knowledgeable people like those contributing to this thread, and am thrilled as information on these companies and their rods is being brought to light. I thank you all.


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Post 04 Aug 2017, 16:40 • #32 
Master Guide
Joined: 03/18/12
Posts: 461
Location: Troy Grove, IL.
GOTTA agree with ya Mr Peabody !!!!!!! If you are fortunate enough to own one then you know how light they are and beautiful too boot.......


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Post 05 Aug 2017, 21:57 • #33 
Guide
Joined: 06/08/16
Posts: 327
Location: US-MI
Well, I learned something new this past weekend. I was in Montana, and visited with Dr. Howald's son and daughter. A real pleasure to meet them and learn more about their father. His son explained to me that although the repair of the broken bamboo rod in 1944 was made with Plaskon and glass fiber, Plaskon didn't work well for an entire rod, so Dr. Howald used a polyester resin that the Plaskon Division had been using for radar domes already. The polyester was a much more suitable resin for fly rods. I went back and re-read all the literature at the time of the Wonderod's debut, and everything just says "glass fiber and resin", and only mentions Plaskon resin with the repair of the broken bamboo rod. A small, but important detail in the history of the fiberglass fishing rod.


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Post 08 Aug 2017, 06:49 • #34 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19076
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
first use of fiberglass was certainly radar domes on aircraft during WWII - it was the only radar-transparent material of the day.


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