What is the coolest waterfowling antique in your colection?

[Guest]

Hey fellow waterfowlers,

Let's start a thread about the coolest, uniuqe, antique (or not even an antique) waterfowling item that you have.

Is it a favorite decoy? Maybe an old shell or shell box? Article of clothing maybe?

For me, it's hard to choose. I have a number of shotshell reloading devices from the turn of the century, pretty cool stuff. Or how about the old ads from 1930's and 40's magazines?

But if I had to pick, it HAS to be my colection of 1890's Stereoview cards.

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, stereoview cards were THE rage back around the turn of the century (1800-1900's). These cards, when put into a stereoviewer would give the person looking at them a 3D image of the scene depicted. You can find these at almost any antique shop, with almost every subject imagineable. Quite a few bear imense historical value since many depict everyday life, architecture and historical events.

I lucked into mine on 2 separate auctions on ebay. All of them depict waterfowling scenes from the period. Most of them are of market hunters showing off their bags. The coolest one, and this one can be found as a reproduction in many waterfowling books, is of a single hunter sitting next to a wall with over 150 birds tacked up on it. It's just amazing to see what once was, and it's also sad at the same time. Other cards in the series show hunters in small wooden boats and in one you can even see the spread of nice wooden decoys that one would almost kill for now days. If I get time I might scan em and post em so you can all see em.

So what do you have? What makes them special to you? Is there a story behind it?

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Ice Leaders

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[Perch Jerker]

My father.

PJ

Also, my pair of 8ga SxS (127yrs & 1??yrs old) shotguns that are still fully functional and are called often into active duty for Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, and Phesant season. I would never 'dream' of loading 2oz of #2 Bismuth wrapped in mylar behind 44gr of Blue Dot started with a Win #209 primer. This is because 1/2oz of steel from a .410 is better than 2oz of Bismuth according to the Feds & State.

[This message has been edited by Perch Jerker (edited 09-10-2004).]

[Gissert]

My dad had some styrofoam canvasback decoys from the 50's or early 60's.

We have been hunting on a friends place since 1962. Pop evidently had one of these can decoys break loose, and it had been laying out there for years.

The landowner found it a couple of years ago and gave it to me. The thing had gained a lot of weight being out in the elements for twenty odd years. Almost all the paint was gone.

Dad died in '98, so it was pretty neat to have one of his old decoys returned to me. It is on a shelf in my Mens Crisis Center (garage), and I smile everytime I look at, and thank pop for getting me hooked on the outdoors and hunting.

[Riverratpete]

Old cork decoy found by a buddy several years ago given to me as a present, sweet.

[snowgoose]

I just started collecting old shotgun shell boxes. I like some of the Holiday boxes with the waterfowl pictures on them.
I also have some old Maxums and a few other that I believe came from Canada.

[lumbertick]

I have the old wood mallard dekes that my grandpa hunted over!!

lt