Decoy carving hero...

P

Pat Gregory

Well-known member
Just a great shot of one of my decoy carving heroes, Virgil Lashbrook. Virgil was from Pekin, Illinois and began carving decoys in 1927. He had a rig of Canvasbacks and bluebills that was out in the famous Armistice Day Storm that took the lives of many duckhunters.
View attachment virgil1.jpg

Nancy and I enjoyed our frequent summer visits from Virgil and Jesse and, thank God He put them in our lives. We were blessed from our time with them...
 
Back in the 80's, he'd come to my home and drop a dozen decoys on the carpet of my family room. All hollow, all oils and, all for sale. Those were the good old days...
 
Thats a great group of Decoys by an American Master. I hope that they all found good homes, with new caretakers. Thanks for the photo. The 80's were good times for collecting decoys, that didn't
break the bank, and wreck the family budget. Most of of the decoys I have came from that time. Could never even think of buying them now. All I can think about are the ones I DIDN'T buy.............
and Should have. Not to mention the ones I no longer have, and sure wish I Did! Guess they just go from one collector to the next, and bring lots of smiles. Decoys are wonderful things.
 
If only that picture could talk.......thanks for sharing Pat.


As i dive into this world of decoys i always remember one decoy i used to own. It was wood and I found it floating on the shores of the upper Chesapeake Bay in the early 90's. i kept it for a few years and then gave it to a duck hunter and decoy collector that lived in the UP of Michigan....oh to have that now....
 
Very nice Pat, I love the history and you are fortunate to have been in the midst of it and appreciate you passing it along.

That would be something to have a decoy from that day, as you think how many rigs were left out and lost. I will have to put that on my list of decoys I would like to collect. A decoy that floated on armistice day.
 
Pat,
I own the Bluebill in the front of that picture, the one with the keel on it. George Campbell bought the decoy from Virgil and I purchased it from George before he passed away.....
I also own a "few" of Virgil's Decoys that went through the Armistice Day Storm/ Blizzard. That old Canvasback you have went through that storm/blizzard too...
Virgil was the first old time Illinois River carver that I met. Smitty Roper brought him out to our club a few times in the 1980's, met him for the first time when I was about 12 or 13. When I started collecting decoys, my first decoy I bought was a 1935 Mallard Drake, in original but worn paint by Edna Perdew, she painted about 3 dozen Mallards for Virgil.


Tim
 
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Great pictures Pat! Is that Peggy in the picture with Virgil? You have some great pictures from Virgil. Nice picture of him holding the 1931 Teal with a later one.

Tim
 
Tim - That is Peggy. I've got lots of pictures of them and will post them up from time to time. The guys on this forum seem to appreciate waterfowling history. Time for a few of us that have been around a bit to start sharing it... More to come. Pat
 
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