The Dickerson Site

Rod 862 appears in the ledger as the seventh rod Dickerson made in his first year of production, 1931. "862" is both the model and the serial number in this particular case. During Dickerson's first few months of production, he marked the rods by using the length, in this case "8'6", and then the sequential production number of the rod model; "2" being representative of the second rod made in the 8'6" length, thus 862.

The tube is commercially made rather than Dickerson’s later in-house brass cap and collar tube. The cap and collar are nickel plated brass with the nickel mostly worn away. An old embossed letter plastic label with the original owners initials, J.O.L. is affixed to the top of the cap. There is a strong possibility the tube is original to the rod, however, we would need to see a couple of rods from the same period to confirm. The original bag is also unique in that it does not have the fold-over tie down flap Dickerson bags were known for. There is a small write-up on the bag in the Rod Bags & Tubes section of this site. Other unique features of the rod include the grip shape and early grip check.

The Earliest Known Dickerson: 1931 8'6" Three Piece