VL&A's John Landman Casting Rods

[David Lehmann]

Back in the late 1800s to early 1900s, if a fisherman wanted a really top-of-the-line bass casting rod to go with a Meek, Gayle or Talbot reel, he may have purchased a rod made by John Landman. Landman built some of the finest split bamboo casting rods ever made. But unlike noted rod makers of that period (Leonard, Payne, Divine, Orvis), Landman built his rods under a cloak of anonymity, building a substantial business that sold to the trade. VL&A's highest quality house brand rods were made by Landman.


Landman's highest quality rod featured the finest hand-planed bamboo available, an ivoroid spiral-locking reel seat, agate stripper and tip guides, all German silver hardware, brass-cored waterproof ferrules, two tips, and no less than six coats of varnish. It was priced on-par with Leonard's best bait casting rod and about twice the price of Heddon's or Divine's top-quality rods.


VL&A's second-tiered house brand rod, the Model A, offered most of the features of the top brand rod but had a German silver reel seat with a sliding band instead of the spiral-locking ivoroid seat and had a slightly lesser finish. It was priced similarly to Heddon's and Divine's finest rods.

Both of these rods were designed to be easily transported and came in velvet-covered form cases with fitting bags. Here are examples of both rods: the VL&A "Finest Quality" and the Model A, both the lightweight versions in 5 1/2' lengths.

VL&A "Finest Quality" (bottom) and Model A (top) in their form cases with original bags. The butt cap of each rod is stamped "THE V.L.&A." In its case, the "Finest Quality" rod is 30" long, and the Model A is 23" long.


Here are the rods removed from their cases. The two-piece variety of the "Finest Quality" rod with the detachable handle is a bit unusual, and I have not seen it in catalogs.

The Model A rod came from A. J. Campbell, nearly 30 years ago. The "Finest Quality" rod recently came from a field find. The previous owner contacted me for information about the rod, which I provided, and then agreed to sell it to me. Although in overall extremely nice condition, it was missing the first guide and one of the tip guides. Jim Schottenham graciously was able to provide the two Landman guides and John Elder replaced/wrapped the guides, matching the original coloration and wrapping style perfectly. Sometimes it really does take a village!

[RonG]

Hey David, those are beautiful rods. Can you post photos of how they are marked?

Thanks,
Ron

[David Lehmann]

Ron,
Both rods are marked the same:
THE "V. L. & A."
VON LENGERKE & ANTOINE
CHICAGO

Tough to photograph because of size, curvature, and reflective glare, but the top photo is the "Finest Quality," and the bottom photo is the Model A.



Also, in the same order (top is "Finest Quality" and bottom is Model A), here are the brass cored male ferrules (by red arrows). These are very distinctive. I'm not aware of another rod maker who used these ferrules. The spiral locking reel seat is also a Landman design, as well, but other rod makers (Divine, etc.) copied it.



Check out how many tacks were used to hold the velvet snug to the form!

[RonG]

Those are quality rods for sure.

[Paul Roberts]

Lovely!

[kyreels]

Thanks for posting. I have seen very little about the early rods, especially those used in tournament casting in the early periods. We have all heard of the Henshall rods and the movement from very long rods to short bait-casting rods. The 5.5' rod would have been nice with an aluminum spool Meek or Talbot. Have you ever cast them?