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I own and USE almost all of the Banty rods which were generally available; Orvis, A&F-marked Orvis, (including Arnold Gingrich's personal Banty), Hardy, A&F-marked Hardy, the Payne (reproduction), A.J. Thramer's 444, and one of only two T&T's made, the above all in bamboo AND a number of the Phillipson-made A&F-marked glass Banty.
There are a couple of point's to be aware of if you're interested in trying one of these little rods to fish with any comfort and success.
First of all, these are NOT light-line, 2 or 3 wt. rods as one might expect from a 4'-4" rod, which is what the "Banty" rod name originally meant. These rods were designed to perform at their peak with a 4 or a 5wt. line. Next, A&F marketed a specially-designed "torpedo" taper line to bring out the maximum performance of these short rods. The use of this line is KEY to obtaining the correct, maximum performance these little rods are capable of producing. This line taper can be thought of as a heavy front, weight-forward, short, bass taper. While these original A&F Banty lines are occasionally available on eBay, Teeny marketed (maybe still is in his list of lines) a close approximation to the original A&F taper (which was labeled "Monogram" and was made by Gladding, I believe) in one of his lines, named "Firstcast" (thanks, Fingernail). Anyway, utilizing one of these specially designed lines with a Banty rod creates a whole new experience for the Banty rod caster. Properly lined, these rods are extremely accurate at close to medium range distances (out to 40 or 50 feet) and I have seen entire lines cast with these little rods by competent casters.
The last point to keep in mind is that the shortness of these rods, 4'-4" which is what DEFINES the Banty rod creates the need for a much different casting stroke. To get an idea of the casting stroke needed, take your standard 9' two piece, 5wt. rod apart, run a line through the tip section and pull off some extra line from your reel to work with. Put the reel in your hip or jacket pocket, and now work the line you have using only the tip section of your rod. The caster will obviously need to put in some practice to develop the stroke needed to get maximum performance from this short rod. If you routinely fish a "normal" length fly rod and pick up a Banty for a short time the difference in casting properties is SO dramatic that most folks put the Banty down as a useless "toy". However, leave the longer rod behind and put in the needed hours to become proficient with this short rod and you will be amazed at the capabilities of not only it's accuracy but the distance which you will quickly be able to cast.
What are the benefits to such a short rod? Ease of handling on small streams where tight, brushy conditions exist and one is forever banging into obstacles with even a short 6-1/2' rod. AND, perhaps even more important, is the ACCURACY with which these rods can cast. If you're fishing small streams, where you have a lot of overhead brush, branches and/or sweepers in the water, little shore-line pockets and over-hangs and those types of close-quarter conditions, these little rods are just the ticket to present flies to saucer-sized targets of open water pocketed in obstacle-course stream conditions.
These are NOT the rods of choice for open-water lake casting or large western rivers or float tube fishing. Although once you've become proficient with one of these and are using the correct line, you may be surprised at how often you are picking up the Banty as your "go to" rod when heading out to the stream.
This genre` of 4'4" Banty rods from the early 60's was spearheaded by the prominent Sporting Goods houses of the day, A&F and Orvis. Both firms were noted small-rod proponents and marketed and made, respectively, this line of rods which were enjoyed by a generation of fly fishers before these little rods faded into the shadows of history. Arnold Gingrich, founder of ESQUIRE men's magazine was perhaps the Banty rod's most vocal and prominent enthusiast but gentlemen fly fishers of that era considered any fly rod arsenal incomplete without at least one example of the Banty in their rod arsenal along with the larger "midge" rods of 6' to 6'6" which the noted Lee Wulff used so successfully. Today people use the term "banty" to refer to almost any rod in lengths of something under seven feet, no matter the line weight. Contemporary fly fishers are both confused and unaware of this little rod's true origins and actual applications and capabilities in today's world of fly fishing.
Go find yourself a true Banty rod, get the correct line, practice and experience for yourself the kind of fun your grandfather or father enjoyed 50 years ago.

Fingernail, thanks, that's the name of the line I was thinking of, Teeny's "Firstcast". I'll try to edit my post to avoid a flood of email inquiries. Thank you.