I know Benson had a hit with them, and though it feels like they've been around forever, I have a suspicion that they're post WWII. Could anyone enlighten me?

Teh roots go to Discouverie of Witchcraft

Oh boy, I was way off. Could anyone provide more detail?

Discoverie Of Witchcraft
Reginald Scot (1584)

TO DRAWE A CORD THROUGH YOUR NOSE, MOUTH OR HAND SO SENSIBLE AS IS WOONDERFUL TO SEE.
There is another trick, which is called "The Bridle". It is made of two elderwood sticks. Place the sticks over your nose like a pair of scissors and when the cord is pulled back and forth it will appear to be running straight through your nose.

A distant relative of the Chinese Sticks.

Thanks so much. I don't know how I didn't remember that part of Scot. Anything more, pointing to the weighted system? Did the Bambergs use them?

Pillars of Solomon are described in Hoffmann's Modern Magic (1876), another distant relative - they couldn't be separated.

Weighted methods come in by way of reports about the street magicians of India (1917) using bamboo wands with beads on the ends of the cords (no tassels). One of the early performers using this method (c.1925) was Silent Mora (Louis Jerome McCord), and for a time the sticks were called "The Mora Wands." One thing is certain, they are definitely NOT Chinese.

There is a very good and detailed discussion of the history of the Chinese Sticks in "Benson By Starlight" by Todd Karr and Levent, a monumental book about the magic and life of Roy Benson.

Apparently the basic principle is older than the hills, although the weights are a relatively recent (probably late 1800's or early 1900's) development. SETH

I still have a set of Mora Sticks. --the long or stage size. They still work like the day he made them.

And Spellbinder is right They come from India, not China.

I have Norm Nielsen's triple sticks which are designed for the Benson routine. They are beautifully crafted. The workings are remarkably smooth and balanced.

Martin Lewis in his great book, Martin's Miracles has a wonderful routine where you can actually have the apparatus examined after the routine.

Ron Wilson "The Uncanny Scot" used bagpipe tubes!

I forgot to mention above that I have a set made by Brema. I bought them at an estate auction back in the 1970s. They are brass, with brass "screw in" plugs for the sucker cut string gag. The weights have pulleys, and the sticks work beautifully. The late Bruce Jensen refinished them for me, and I've never used them since.

I believe they were made in the 1940s. I think that Carl Brems was working with/for Mitchell Kanter in Philadelphia, then.

No one has mentioned Jay Marshall, who had a very nice routine. He made his own sticks from brass tubing. He made the tassels extra long--about 9"--of cheap synthetic wool (light weight) One of his best lines was, "The only connection is the old man pulling the strings..." I believe he does his routine on you tube.

My first set was bought for me by my mother about 1945, from Harold Sterling (Detroit dealer). It was war time (WWII). The "sticks" were made of cardboard! (like a mailing tube, but they were not round, they were square tube, and were about 10" long. the strings were of cheap gift wrapping cord with cheap tassels. To make them work, I had to hold them almost vertically!

Later,I made a set from copper tubing. I painted them to look like bamboo (I thought!)

When the PomPon Stick "came along", I started using them. I had Kovari's, but now I'm using a set made by Twin Cities Magic in St. Paul, Minnesota.