Worth Mathewson
Active member
For anyone interested in Dave's prints the following might be helpful: For many years I had and sold all the remaining prints of Dave's. It is important to know that I started out asking $100 per print. Nearly none sold at that price. So Dave suggested I drop the price to $50. The sales were better at that price, but still not much. So in the end I dropped the price to $25. Sales were ok at that price. (With the print sales Dave got 100%, as he did with the originals.) When Dave died his wife, Barbara, came down and got the prints. I had returned the originals a few years prior to that. Barbara died a few months ago. I heard that the Washington Brant Foundation ended up with the prints. I have no idea what they are asking for them. The Foundation has a web site, so those interested could contact them as to what is available and the price. Again, I have no idea if they would mail prints. It is actually a pain in the butt. Amazingly, due to cost of cardboard, mailing them flat costs a bunch. In some cases more that the cost of the print. Rolling the print requires a heavy cardboard tube. These are only available from a shipping supply store. The cost of these tubes is about $4. Then the postage via Priority is around $12. I currently have pictures of the prints I sold on my web page: www.sinkbox.com. But my son is going to take down the Hagerbaumer items soon, as I am still getting orders.
As for decoys, Dave made them for most of his life. But especially during the late 1980s and early 1990s he made a bunch. Dave's decoys varied greatly. Most were rather simple working decoys. But he made some that were outstanding! In the recent GRAY'S article the author made a mistake about a rig Dave made. He wrote that Dave made a 40 plus rig for bandtails. Actually they were feral pigeons that Dave hoped to hunt in a field near his house. (He never got around to it) The work on those balsa decoys was about as good as he ever did. And he painted the birds in all the different color patterns that feral pigeons have. Most were given to a fellow in Idaho who makes wine, and Dave did many labels for. I also got a few. He also made some excellent pigeon decoys for me that I used in Argentina. And some golden plover that I used in Northern Ireland. (I plan to use the plover decoys again this coming November in Scotland)
On my web site there are still some of Dave's decoys. But they were sold several years ago. During the period that I was selling Dave's decoys Steve Sutton purchased the most. I have no idea where one would currently find Dave's decoys for sale. But since he made a lot of them, those interested should keep an eye out on Ebay or in decoy magazines. I certainly wish that 20-25 years ago I had been active in collecting his 1946 Custom Bilt Decoys. In those years they sold for $150-$200. I can only guess what they would go for today! Best, Worth Mathewson
As for decoys, Dave made them for most of his life. But especially during the late 1980s and early 1990s he made a bunch. Dave's decoys varied greatly. Most were rather simple working decoys. But he made some that were outstanding! In the recent GRAY'S article the author made a mistake about a rig Dave made. He wrote that Dave made a 40 plus rig for bandtails. Actually they were feral pigeons that Dave hoped to hunt in a field near his house. (He never got around to it) The work on those balsa decoys was about as good as he ever did. And he painted the birds in all the different color patterns that feral pigeons have. Most were given to a fellow in Idaho who makes wine, and Dave did many labels for. I also got a few. He also made some excellent pigeon decoys for me that I used in Argentina. And some golden plover that I used in Northern Ireland. (I plan to use the plover decoys again this coming November in Scotland)
On my web site there are still some of Dave's decoys. But they were sold several years ago. During the period that I was selling Dave's decoys Steve Sutton purchased the most. I have no idea where one would currently find Dave's decoys for sale. But since he made a lot of them, those interested should keep an eye out on Ebay or in decoy magazines. I certainly wish that 20-25 years ago I had been active in collecting his 1946 Custom Bilt Decoys. In those years they sold for $150-$200. I can only guess what they would go for today! Best, Worth Mathewson