Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
As we continue to prepare for the March 8 Long Island Decoy Collectors Annual Show, I keep running into a few uncertainties. I have a bunch of old catalogs - running from ~1946 into the early '70s - but cannot nail down one particular decoy model.
This is the bird in question. I cannot recall how and when I got it - maybe in a batch of Model Canada Blacks and Mallards I got from member Joe Daly last year. It had obviously been converted to a Drake Butterball (aka Bufflehead) at some point during its long working life.
It is a small decoy - nominally "life-size" - but very tall and narrow.
My working theory is that it began life as a Model Winnipeg Bluebill.
I believe the bottom board - about 5/8" thick White Pine - was added. Thus, it would have been sold with a ~3-inch thick Balsa body - and likely had the brass screw eye as the body-to-head fastening. Note the small size of the Balsa pieces used for this limited-run series.
(I question the "Will not rock in a wind" assertion, however....)
The leather anchoring loops - and the remains of a lead ballast - are on no other Herter's decoys.
Prior to this model - which appears in both 1952 and 1955 catalogs - Herter's did sell their Market Hunter model - which had cork bodies, not Balsa. The bodies were similarly short, narrow and tall. BTW - This model was also sold with a detail-printed canvas "skin" (shown here).
Later, the Model Superior line had Balsa bodies, but were much flatter (which some suggest was an influence from Ted Mulliken's Wildfowler decoys - seen at Eastern decoy contests). The more refined shapes of the new line were probably attributable to Iowan carver Jack Musgrove - who carved masters for many/most of the decoy lines we know so well. BTW: Sharp eyes will note that the Bluebill in the photo is actually a Redhead - see the bill tip. This is a mistake made more than once in the various catalogs.
In any event, I have since "restored" this fine little decoy to look his age - but as a Drake Bluebill (Broadbill to my Atlantic Tidewater mind, of course). I tried neither to return it to factory paint (OP) - which would have been sprayed - nor to seal and paint with a contemporary Sanford paint scheme. Rather, I opted for the look of an IURP - in-use re-paint - that had seen many seasons since it last saw a brush. Because the original eyes are both so worn, I may treat him to a new pair - just to catch my eye as I pass him on the shelf.
So - if you have some thoughts - and especially if you have a better catalog-based conclusion - please let me know. In the meantime, I think I'll put him right in front of me - on the old tool chest in our living room - to help my son and me watch the Buffalo Bills keep on winning over the next few weeks.
All the best,
SJS
As we continue to prepare for the March 8 Long Island Decoy Collectors Annual Show, I keep running into a few uncertainties. I have a bunch of old catalogs - running from ~1946 into the early '70s - but cannot nail down one particular decoy model.
This is the bird in question. I cannot recall how and when I got it - maybe in a batch of Model Canada Blacks and Mallards I got from member Joe Daly last year. It had obviously been converted to a Drake Butterball (aka Bufflehead) at some point during its long working life.
It is a small decoy - nominally "life-size" - but very tall and narrow.
My working theory is that it began life as a Model Winnipeg Bluebill.
I believe the bottom board - about 5/8" thick White Pine - was added. Thus, it would have been sold with a ~3-inch thick Balsa body - and likely had the brass screw eye as the body-to-head fastening. Note the small size of the Balsa pieces used for this limited-run series.
(I question the "Will not rock in a wind" assertion, however....)
The leather anchoring loops - and the remains of a lead ballast - are on no other Herter's decoys.
Prior to this model - which appears in both 1952 and 1955 catalogs - Herter's did sell their Market Hunter model - which had cork bodies, not Balsa. The bodies were similarly short, narrow and tall. BTW - This model was also sold with a detail-printed canvas "skin" (shown here).
Later, the Model Superior line had Balsa bodies, but were much flatter (which some suggest was an influence from Ted Mulliken's Wildfowler decoys - seen at Eastern decoy contests). The more refined shapes of the new line were probably attributable to Iowan carver Jack Musgrove - who carved masters for many/most of the decoy lines we know so well. BTW: Sharp eyes will note that the Bluebill in the photo is actually a Redhead - see the bill tip. This is a mistake made more than once in the various catalogs.
In any event, I have since "restored" this fine little decoy to look his age - but as a Drake Bluebill (Broadbill to my Atlantic Tidewater mind, of course). I tried neither to return it to factory paint (OP) - which would have been sprayed - nor to seal and paint with a contemporary Sanford paint scheme. Rather, I opted for the look of an IURP - in-use re-paint - that had seen many seasons since it last saw a brush. Because the original eyes are both so worn, I may treat him to a new pair - just to catch my eye as I pass him on the shelf.
So - if you have some thoughts - and especially if you have a better catalog-based conclusion - please let me know. In the meantime, I think I'll put him right in front of me - on the old tool chest in our living room - to help my son and me watch the Buffalo Bills keep on winning over the next few weeks.
All the best,
SJS
