07-02-2005, 01:20 AM
Hello Folks.
It is my pleasure to send you my essay in hopes that I may help you reads. I ask for no money or fees from you or your readers.
I just ask for the opportunity to help other outdoors men and their families while sharing my 30 plus years as one of the worlds experts in the study of historic wooden bird decoys.
Sincerely:
Steven Lloyd
Mr. Decoy
The Decoy Man
The Duck Man
Mr. Duck.
Professor Decoy
Others just call me Steve!
I am like anyone of you reading this story. I have loved the outdoors since I can remember. My Father said I started hunting as soon as I could carry decoys . My Mother said I started about month before I was born.
It must be true what they say about imprinting. We all have heard stories about letting a new hunting pup smell you and the memory stays with them. There is countless advice out there for the mothers to be,music and sound for your baby to enjoy.
Well I wasn’t even born I was told and I heard the duck call the whistle of incoming puddle ducks and the whoosh of large flocks of divers just before the shooting started.
My Mother never hunted and really didn’t like the killing part but she went to share everything else with my Father.
She was so happy I was a boy ..... someone for him to teach and share the out doors with and I did that ,,, I lived to be in the bush or in the marsh.
I remember riding my bike past the school with my shotgun over one shoulder, shells over the other and my dog in tow.
I only got caught a few times...buy my teacher. I thought I was the king of the world when I road home with a few ducks over my handlebars...
All my life I have been amazed by all the old timers that created old wooden hunting decoys from blocks of Cedar, pine and basswood.
Many of these master carvers created wooden bird decoys to duplicate wild birds like, ducks, geese, shorebirds, swans, owls, crows, doves even pigeons.
50 years later!
Hello Folks
I am a volunteer of a "DUCKY" sort.
Now in my semi retirement, from my den I enjoy helping out thousands of total strangers from all over North America daily and you may be the next..
I operate The National Decoy Information Center. We receive many e-mails daily from folks like you that have own or know someone that has old wooden hunting decoys and would like to learn more about them.
I enjoy giving back!
So many outdoors people have helped me over my lifetime it time for me to give back.
What a great journey it’s been 35 years of studying old wooden decoys from all over the world & helping people evaluate their decoys always free of charge.
The payments have been countless new friends and even more knowledge about the fascinating history of wooden decoys.
Your old wooden bird decoys may be priceless to you for sentimental reasons or could be some of the valuable antique decoys the millionaire collectors are hoping to find.
Find out by simply e-mailing a picture of your old birds.
I know that all of you reading this have dreamed of finding treasure in some form, as we wonder with anticipation from, antique shop, to flea market, to the internet.
Too many folks have overlooked the value of old wooden decoys pushed into an old basket in a corner. My goal is to help you all see the possibilities of your old decoys.
I have been called Canada’s Foremost Authority on Historical Decoys by much of North America’s media, Outdoor Canada Magazine, The Toronto Star, The Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Global News, CBC TV, CTV TV, CJOH TV, PBS, and so many more.
Decoy History
The history of decoys in North America dates back at lest 2000 years. Wow most people didn’t realize that. Decoys are noted even further back in other parts of the world like early Egypt. The oldest decoys in North America are housed in the Smithsonian Museum. These unique bird replicas were found in an Arizona cave and were dated with native pottery pieces found alongside. Our traditional wooden decoys were primarily made in the mid 1800's to the mind 1900's.
In the last 100 years “decoy” means many things to many different people. To most is an artificial duck or bird carved of wood. To hunters it is a tool required for successful waterfowling. To Collectors it means a desired folk art. To Antique dealers it is a supplemented income and a wonderful accent to country furniture. To Steven Lloyd it is his life long study and passion.
If your decoy could talk!
A famous saying often is used when talking about decoys is “If only this old bird could talk, imagine the stories it would tell” .
If you have enjoyed your decoys in your home or cottage, THAT’S GREAT but I’m sure you have wondered what all of us decoy owners have.
What about the history ? Who made this decoy ? Where is it from ? Where has it been used ? How did it get here ? Why was it made this way ? What kind of duck is it ? Who owned it ? Is it documented? Who’s initials are on the bottom ? Is it valuable ? Would a museum want my decoy ?
Most of these questions can be answered, some easier than others. You can start by sending a picture of your decoys to Steven. As a well seasoned world expert and Canada’s foremost Authority on decoys he can often answer many of these questions with a glance of your decoy.
The Word “ Decoy ”
1A bird or mammal, or an imitation of one, used by hunters to lure game. 2 a thing used to mislead or lure someone into a trap.
3 a pond from which narrow netted channels lead, into which wild duck may be enticed for capture.
Decoy’s are a functional tool primary that were used with as many as 300 similar blocks to lure in wild birds to excited waiting hunters.
To day, many decoys are still used for hunting but many thousands have been retired and are being used in Antique shops to lure in wild decoy collectors, excited about finding the next treasure.
Like the early hunters that had different opinions about what was the best decoy and how they should be used .
Today’s collectors have similar opinions on what decoys are treasures or trash.
In the most early days of decoys they were primitively constructed from materials on hand, marsh grass, tamarack, mud, twigs even animal skins. All usually had a few found feathers of wild birds to add color and texture.
From the mid 1800's to 1918 was the glory years of decoys. Thousands of decoys were carved out. The market hunter were in full flight and the demand for wooden decoys were higher than what could be supplied. There were many individual carvers that sold decoys but soon factories took the overflow. The Mason, Dodge, Stevens, Victor, and Peterbourgh Decoy Companies were some of the many ones.
The diehard men hunting day after day, many even in spring and fall. It’s a known fact that many of these outdoors men prided themselves on hitting 3 or more ducks per shot on a regular basis. Then unfortunately for the waterfowl there was the invention of the punt gun. It was like a small canon that was bolted to the duck boat and could shoot dozens per shot. In these days, ducks were an important source of food for early families. Many for the commercial hunters also sold at market. The folks would go into town and sell the day’s hunt often by the pair. The ducks were also shipped in barrels by rail to larger centers. In early days it was common in all the upscale restaurants to order a wild duck dinner or in some areas geese, swans, even shorebirds.
Criteria for Evaluation & Appraising Old Decoys
Most collectors and investors agree on the following criteria.
1 Condition, as perfect as when it was originally made.
2 Damage, rule of the thumb the more damage the more the value drops.
3 The carver, the decoys of well known historical carvers often bring higher prices.
4 Documentation, decoys that are documented are usually more desirable
5 Rarity, of the decoy, by specie, construction, or numbers produced.
6 Folk art, unique construction or a creative pose often catches some different eye.
7 Matching pairs or sets of birds’ appeals to many collectors & investors.
8 Museums often have interest in documented & unique decoys.
9 Our economy, if things are good in the world decoys prices are often up.
10 “A Bird in Hand” is true today as it was years ago.
Identifying old decoys usually takes years of study and countless research books. I have become Canada’s most sot after decoy expert because my vast knowledge. This was gained through the hundreds of decoy displays I have offered. Thousands of folks have shared with me their decoy history as I am helping them with other areas like current value.
Looking through books and antique shops to find a decoy like the old one you may have found in your cottage is slim. It is much easier to e-mail us a picture. The bottom of many decoys often has important information. But be careful because you may see names of initials , painted or carved in that was the hunter not the carver. Some decoys have several names of the bottom.
Collectors and researchers like myself often only get one opportunity in a life time to buy a dream decoy. We often have dreams of a certain bird is still out there. So yes, I have paid much more than market price for a few dream decoys in my collection.
Many people have decoys that have been in their family for generations or are from a past love one. I feel it is important to be sensitive in sharing my knowledge while informing the family of the value and history of their decoys.
It's great to have old decoys but it adds so much to the pleasure of owning a fine old decoy when you have details of its history. I love seeing pictures of your Dad’s or Grandad’s decoys but so often decoys in the rig were made by others. That’s often a good thing! Many pictures of a valuable factory made, Mason decoys have been thought to be made by Dad. Masons can be worth, many thousands . . .
My dream is to help as many people as possible in my life time evaluate their old wooden decoys and to educate folks, city dwellers and county folk, about their decoys, the history and their value.
“The National Decoy Information Center” C\O Steven Lloyd 441 Elmwood Drive, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, K8N 4Z6 e-mail [url "mailto:lqqklake@aol.com"]lqqklake@aol.com[/url] Phone 1-613-968-8899
Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts.
Steven Lloyd
Mr. Decoy
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