At one time, Bristol brand was Horton Manufacturing in Bristol, Conn, which included multipiece steel rods, and they moved Meek from Kentucky.
Outdoor magazine, 1917
The fly reels were later, and I'm doing a little googlebooks digging...
I believe they were eventually bought by American Fork and Hoe, also making steel rods, eventually dba True Temper, who also acquired Ocean City.
Aluminum production ramped up during WWI (finally bringing the cost of aluminum below silver), but aluminum consumer goods fit best best with the post-WWII blue collar marketing boom.
...Just as I thought
from1930 to 1950, Bristol fly reel ads spring up in 1946 - here's Life Magazine.
here's the search result if you want to play with it
https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bristol+fly+reel&tbs=,bkv:f,cdr:1,cd_min:Jan+1_2+1930,cd_max:Dec+31_2+1950&num=10and here's where the search began - use year window and Full View Only
https://books.google.com/advanced_book_search?hl=enWhen I widen the date from 1920 to 1960, it only adds Bristol steel rods before WWII, and no reference to Bristol reels after 1950.
Pretty cool - they had a mag brake baitcaster in 1949