The Mason Decoy Factory of Detroit, Michigan has been held as the standard of factory decoys for many years. Mason decoys are the most famous factory made decoys. Mason produced…

Carry-Lite paper mache decoys In the late 1930’s waterfowl hunters were anxious to find a lighter option for their decoys other than wood. Carrying two dozen wood decoys into a…

In late 1927, Walter Evans established the in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. It was very likely that Walter was carving decoys several years earlier on a part time basis, but a fall…

The Animal Trap Company of North America (ATCNA) produced hunting decoys for a greater number of years than any other decoy factory. Long before they produced decoys they were a…

Well before the big box sporting food stores of Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse, or Bass Pro Shops, the sporting goods business was dominated by Herter’s Sporting Goods Co., of Waseca, Minnesota.…

A third major producer of paper mache decoys began production after World War 2 in 1949. Their decoys were sold under the trade name of Ariduk. General Fibre Co. also…

In the early 1930’s decoy manufacturers were on a quest to try to reduce the weight of their decoys. Duck hunters were tired of lugging 50 pound sacks of solid…

In my past articles I have focused on factory decoy makers, specifically those with ties to Wisconsin. There has been interest in some of Wisconsin’s most well known and exceptionally…

A Frank Strety Giant Canvasback hen Wisconsin has been home to many excellent decoy carvers, but one of the best was Frank Strey of Oshkosh, WI. Strey was born in 1890 and…

Missouri was home to only a few factory decoy manufacturers. The Hays Decoy Co. was sold to the Gundelfinger family in 1925 when their business failed. Gundelfinger purchased all of…

Jasper Dodge was another high volume commercial decoy manufacturer who began decoy manufacturing in 1872 in Detroit, Michigan. Decoys produced until 1883 were carved entirely by hand without the aid…