Frederick Davis Divine began making fishing rods as early as 1875 in his home town of Utica New York. He started making fishing rods as a young man, first for himself and then for his friends, using a pen knife as his only tool. By 1879 he was listed as a "Fish Rod Manufacturer" in the Utica City Directory. Fred remained a one man rod company until 1888 when he was joined by Frank Wolcott. During these early years most of Fred's rods were made of wood rather than bamboo. Lancewood, Greenheart, and Bethabara were the most common woods used. Fred produced both fly and casting rods and is credited with popularizing the short casting rod which he introduced in 1885.
Between 1888 and 1890 Fred's staff grew to five in number (including his brother-in-law George McDuffee, Francis, Louis and George Becraft, and George Penfield), and Fred incorporated his rod business as "Fred D. Divine & Co.". During the 1890's business boomed. Divine and Co. introduced numerous grades of rods, camping gear and even a folding boat. It was during this time that split bamboo rods of Calcutta cane were introduced. Divine built 6 strip and 8 strip Trout rods and patented the unique spiral rod during this time period. The spiral rod was of standard split construction except the strips were twisted during the glue up. The spiral rod was evidently too difficult to manufacture and was soon discontinued. Later in the decade Fred traded rights for the spiral patent with Chubb for use of his Silkien process developed by Kenyon. The Silkien process involved wrapping a rod from butt to tip in a fine white silk. When the rod was varnished the silk would become "invisible".
On March 17th 1900, Fred D. Divine was killed in a freak accident. While inspecting fire damage to his rod building shop his clothing was caught in a large steam driven pulley and he was pulled around the shaft half a dozen times. With Fred gone, his wife Ada assumed the reins of the newly reincorporated "Fred D. Divine Co.". In this era, the Standard Trout rod was the biggest seller, but rods were made for all types of fishing. Rods made from 1900 onward were always marked with a serial number that consisted of a letter followed by several numbers. These serial numbers can help identify the era in which a rod was made. Also useful for dating purposes are the rod shaft decal that appeared on most Divine Rods made after about 1915.
In 1919, George McDuffee, Ada's brother, assumed ownership of the company. Under McDuffee, the company turned to production of high quality rods and began to emphasize more modern actions and cosmetics. The Rainbow Rod, Fairy Fly Rod and Divine Special were big sellers in this period. Also popular was the "Special Dry Fly" rod made to accommodate the growing popularity of dry fly fishing. McDuffee and Becraft kept the company and its line of premium rods growing until Becraft retired in 1932. The latest advertising for the Fred D. Divine Co was seen in a 1936 outdoor magazine.
