For sale here is a very unique item from the Thomas Rod Co. An original mailing tube with all of the original labels and stamps. The tube measures 42" in length and the inner diameter is 1 3/4" - a perfect for for the old rod tubes.

William M. Marr was indeed Superintendent of Schools of the town of Millinocket, Maine in 1938, when a rod was delivered in this tube to him by the Thomas Rod Co. You can see the 1938 post office stamp on the original mailing label. Here's a link to a PDF of the town's annual report that year. Not very good reading (and very slow to load), but I did find that he made $1,900 in salary for holding the Supt. post that year. Another note of interest is an excerpt from his yearly report...."It is to be regretted that more parents do not visit school and learn first-hand just how their children are getting along. Remember, even a short visit would encourage both pupils and teachers." Nice reminder for us current parents to live by, eh? And here's a bio I found, with a relevant excerpt: "Much of his spare time he devotes to hunting and fishing". Ah yes, a true fish bum this William....

The rod in the photos can be found here. The prevailing wisdom is that this was not the rod originally shipped in this mailing tube since the "30" on the bottom of the rod butt cap dates the rod prior to 1936, perhaps even in the 1920's. I learned these facts from Dana Gray and Joel Hughes.

A must-have for the FE Thomas collectors.

Just to clarify, this listing only includes the mailing tube, not the rod shown in the photos.