It should be signed on the bottom, or initialled. There were two Illinois dealers/carvers who did decoys to give out at the World's in Stuttgart, Charley Moore, and Dave Friar. The one in the pic looks like a Charley Moore bird and paint job. Generally the decoys given out by the chamber to the judges and champions also had a medallion on a chain that was hung over the neck with the year engraved. If you didn't get the medallion, it probably got lost, or sold separately. Dave worked for Western Illinois University in Macomb, and hustled antiques out of a shop in Macomb in addition to going to decoy shows and the Kane County flea markets. Charley worked for or was associated with Northern Illinois University (if I remember correctly) and lived near Dekalb, Illinois. I know Dave passed a few years back, and I am pretty sure Charley preceded him in death.
Both Charley and Dave bought carved and sanded decoys from Wildfowler, Big Sky, and the workshop rejects of competitive carvers and then painted them. Dave also contracted with other carvers to paint decoys for him. I believe Charley painted all his own decoys, I never heard of him contracting with others to paint them. Both then antiqued the decoys with a coat of stain, rubbed them in wax, and sold them for very reasonable prices.
When I got into carving in 1973, Charley's decoys were going for $25 to $30, but you could also buy a smooth sanded, ready to paint, wildfowler bufflehead, with a pair of cheap eyes for $6. Of course I didn't realize Charley bought the decoys ready to paint, and I marveled to him that he sure carved and painted decoys cheaply. He told me that I had to learn how to carve a decoy and head, sanded, in three hours, and them be able to do a one hour paint job. Well, I did learn how to do simple one hour paint jobs, when I had 6 or more to do in an assembly line, and did work for Dave Friar, at $10 per bird on that basis. I was carving for two years before I found out about Wildfowler and the ruse Charley pulled on me, so I just laughed it off, as I was already hooked on carving decoys.
Charley and Dave also bought decoys from contemporary carvers, antique decoys, or fake antique decoys, and then shipped them off to Big Sky or Wildfowler to have them reproduced. Dave actually had me make him some patterns that he reproduced through Big Sky. The best pattern I made him was for a head to go on a Wildfowler style mallard body. The head was carved to be able to face forward as a "leaner" or to be turned around at an angle and become a "sleeper". He sold a poop load of those decoys, and as a reward, I got 5 or 6 bodies and heads, and I got paid to paint all the black ducks he sold for several years.
Charley did some Perdew replicas, primarily teal and you see them on ebay from time to time.
Both men were close friends with collectors Joe and Donna Tonelli. They got a lot of low grade broken or repainted antique decoys from Joe, which they repaired, stripped and varnished or repainted in gunning patterns. In the hey day of decoy collecting (70's and 80's) when average persons could still afford a Perdew or Elliston, they both made a lot of money at shows and flea markets by having available reasonably priced decoys that looked nice on the shelf for the guy or gal who wanted a wooden decoy, but didn't require one with a pedigree. Some new collector would look at a Perdew for $350 on Joe's table, scuffed and with some missing paint, then walk over to Dave or Charley's table and buy a repainted Mason or other decoy with uniform paint and an aged look for $40. Non collectors flipped out for their decoys before you saw all of them in Bass Pro catalogues, etc. Dave and Charley offered great products at reasonable prices before Chinese birds and resin casting killed that market. I was privileged to call both men my friends.
The last Charley Moore decoys I saw on ebay went for about $150 or so. Haven't seen many lately. Don't know if that is becasue there aren't many coming on the market, or if they didn't hold value To the best of my knowledge, Charley only made acrylic painted decoys for sale at decoy shows and flea markets, etc. I don't think he ever made a true hunting decoy that got gunned over. When I was one of the judges for the World's in the mid 70's, I got a Charley Moore decoy as a present from the Stuttgart Chamber. I gave it to, and it is still owned by my son.
Mike
