Everett Horton Patents the Telescoping Fishing Rod (1887)

In puritanical rural Connecticut, fishing on Sunday was very nearly a mortal sin.  But Everett Horton, a hoop maker at a Bristol crinoline undergarment factory, wanted badly to fish on Sunday.  In order to slip unnoticed out of town and to the stream, he invented a telescoping fishing rod.  On March 8, 1887, he received a patent for his invention—US Patent 359153 A—and the rest is history.

1927 ad for Everett Horton’s Telescoping Fishing Rod

Horton’s patent application doesn’t mention that his purpose was to dupe his church-going neighbors.  Rather, it was to “produce a light and compact rod of superior convenience, elasticity, and durability, and one in which the line is protected against entanglement throughout the length of the rod.”  Unlike typical fishing rods, on which the exposed line is guided through rings mounted at intervals along the rod, Horton’s rod had hollow tubes that carried the line inside, protected from tangling.  Every angler of modest skill (like me) has experienced the recurring frustration of tangled lines.

Reportedly, Horton walked into a bank in Bristol the next year and asked to see the manager.  In the meeting, Horton produced the fishing rod from his pants leg, to the manager’s alarm.  When asked why he had made such a thing, Horton replied, “So you can sneak off fishing whenever you like, even on Sunday.”

He got the needed loan and went on to found the Horton Manufacturing Company.  And to make a fortune.  The fishing rod was instantly popular and by 1900 the Bristol Steel Rod was the most popular fishing rod in the United States.  The rod was well-made and performed its intended function—to hide an angler’s intention and keep the line straight—but angling purists didn’t like it (of course).  Nonetheless, Horton kept manufacturing his rods, eventually expanding the company into a producer of diverse metal household items.

The Pocket-Fisherman had to have an inspiration, and maybe we’ve just found it.

References:

Anctil, Philip.  (Nothing Up Your Sleeve) It May Be A Bristol Steel Rod.  Fishing Talks.  Available at:    http://www.fishingtalks.com/nothing-up-your-sleeve-it-may-be-a-bristol-steel-rod-569.html.  Accessed March 7, 2017.

New England Historical Society.  Everett Horton Goes Fishing for a Fortune.  Available at:  http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/everett-horton-goes-fishing-fortune/.  Accessed March 7, 2017.

U.S. Patent Office.  Patent 359153 A.  Available at:  https://www.google.com/patents/US359153.  Accessed March 7, 2017.

This Month in Conservation

September 1
Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon, Died (1914)
September 2
President Roosevelt Dedicated Great Smoky National Park (1940)
September 3
Wilderness Act passed (1964)
September 4
Fort Bragg, Home of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Established (1918)
September 5
UNESCO Established First World Heritage Sites (1978)
September 6
Alcide d’Orbigny, French Naturalist, Born (1802)
September 7
Edward Birge, Father of Limnology, born (1851)
September 8
UN Millennium Declaration ratified (2000)
September 9
First “Bug” Found in Computer (1945)
September 10
Henry Hardtner, Father of Southern Forestry, Born (1870)
September 11
World Wildlife Fund Began Operations (1961)
September 12
Canyonlands National Park Established (1964)
September 13
Walter Reed born (1851)
September 14
Marc Reisner, Author of Cadillac Desert (1948)
September 15
Darwin reaches the Galapagos Islands (1835)
September 16
Ed Begley Jr., Environmental Advocate, born (1949)
September 17
Edgar Wayburn, Wilderness Advocate, Born (1906)
September 18
Grey Owl, Pioneering Conservationist in Canada, Born (1888)
September 19
Urmas Tartes, Estonian Nature Photographer, born (1963)
September 20
AAAS Founded (1848)
September 21
Assateague Island National Seashore Created (1965)
September 22
Peace Corps becomes law (1961)
September 23
Rose Selected as U.S. National Flower (1986)
September 24
President Kennedy Dedicated Pinchot Institute (1963)
September 25
Pope Francis Addressed the UN on the Environment (2015)
September 26
Johnny Appleseed Born (1774)
September 27
“Silent Spring” Published (1962)
September 28
National Public Lands Day
September 29
Steinhart Aquarium opens (1923)
September 30
Hoover Dam Dedicated (1935)
January February March April May June July August September October November December