Description
This is the earliest example of a 2nd Era Goodwin Granger – The Granger Rod. This GR7630 is so rare that it may in fact be the only one in existence. It’s unique 5″ Short Cigar grip predates the Coke Bottle.
Detailed description coming soon…
The 1923 Catalog (pictured below) shows the GF7630 The Granger Rod as one of seven Regular Fly Rod models offered that year. Also available were models 8642, 9043, 9050, 9652, 9653 and 9660.
ABOUT THE GRANGER ROD
The Goodwin Granger – The Granger Rod in the first era is a bit of an enigma. According to the advertising from 1919 through 1921, it appears that all early 1st Era grades were referred to as “The Granger Rod”. Each different grade used the same reel seat that was stamped with: “The / Granger Rod / Denver” on 3 lines. The Granger Rod name was later assigned to only the highest grade in the 2nd and 3rd eras.
The Granger Rods were constructed with A-Grade cane split from the same culm. The Granger Rods from the 2nd and 3rd eras also possess a unique wrap pattern that consists of black & white jasper windings tipped in gold plus 3 additional bands of gold*.
The Granger Rod was available in 7.5′ to 10′ lengths (3 oz. to 6.5 oz.) and priced at $40.
Granger Rods of the 2nd and 3rd Eras were labeled beginning with “GR” for Regular Rods or “GT” for Tournament Rods followed by the model number (e.g., GR7630 or GT9043).
Production of Goodwin Granger’s; The Granger Rod grade lasted until the company renamed all of their rods in 1930—when it became the DeLuxe.
*Prior to the introduction of the DeLuxe grade, the 1st Era Premier grade was finished with the same wrap pattern.
GOODWIN GRANGER ADVERTISING IN THE 2ND ERA (1923 – 1926)
Ads from the 2nd era represent one of the biggest transitions in rod design. From these ads, along with the 1923-1924 Goodwin Granger Catalog, we know that tapers across the lineup changed to include a swelled butt section that lead to increased power and better overall cast-ability. Available rods from this era included: the “Granger Rod”, “Goodwin Rod” and “Denver Special” (in 1924).
Ads from 1923 were focused on customer testimonials highlighting large catches on Granger Rods. These first ads only list 2 prices for “fly rods at $40 and $30″. It is interesting so note that the rod illustrations in 1923 appear to be of a first era Premier—perhaps to reduce inventory before the newly designed rods became available. Then in 1924, The Denver Special re-appears and prices now show a range: “fly rods at $45 to $20″.
The ads in 1925 & 1926 are much more illustrative and large by Granger’s ad-buying standards. We also see the first use of the “Granger Rods” script that is now commonly associated with Granger rods.
All ads list “GOODWIN GRANGER & CO.” as the business entity and the addresses is consistent in this era at “East Ninth Ave., Denver, Colorado”.
You might notice that a different street number was assigned to each publication on all Granger ads. This was done to accurately track the responses for the same ad across different publications.
All ads shown here were scanned directly from their original publications.
