Uncle holding something

[u/Hangry-24-7]

Picture of my wife’s uncle as a boy 7 or 8 yrs old. Grew up on a farm in western NY. This picture dates back to around 1947 or 1948. What is the boy holding? Is it a toy? Or some sort of farm tool?

Update — yes this photo was enhanced using ai to take the graininess out of the original picture. My wife is giving a copy of the image to her cousin for an 80th birthday gift along with other photos.

The AI bashing on this post is unbelievable! How come nobody is bashing the fact that I used a scanner to create a jpeg of the image as opposed to creating a duplicate from a photo negative in a dark room and sending out 250 copies thru the postal service?

[u/o_blake]

Could be a fly-fishing rod. I tried helping a guy open a canister just like this. He told me it was an old fishing rod.

[u/Hangry-24-7 → u/o_blake]

Thanks for the tip could be something like this
https://ebay.io/m/B0JcNp

[u/TheDixonCider420420 → u/Hangry-24-7]

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/58844-vintage-jr-ace-carry--case-fishing-set

[u/regeya → u/TheDixonCider420420]

Dang, "fishing case" was my first guess and I'm not totally sure why. I've never done any fly fishing. Maybe I've seen one at an estate sale or something.

[u/Alexplz → u/o_blake]

I believe it's specifically a rod carrier for a travel spinning rod, which typically breaks down into 4 pieces instead of the usual 2.

[u/Camperz13 → u/o_blake]

That's what I thought immediately. My dad had one like this. 

[u/portablebiscuit → u/o_blake]

My dad had one. Aluminum tube, translucent green plastic lid that’s impossible to unscrew.

[u/Relevant-Corgi-9347 → u/o_blake]

I was thinking fishing rod case as well.

[u/Thin-Title → u/Relevant-Corgi-9347]

Either that or a bird feeder.

[u/InDependent_Window93 → u/o_blake]

Fly rods are usually 1 piece, not collapsible