Adam Anger, Windsor, Ontario

About sixty years ago, Adam Anger used an ax to hack out his first rig of hunting decoys from cedar posts. While working for the Hiram Walker Company and carving in his spare time, Adam Anger dreamed of carving full-time after his retirement. Sadly, he could not do so: he was forced to stop carving in 1992 because of crippling arthritis. During his career, Mr. Anger made about 2,000 gunning birds.

Anger, a distant cousin of the renowned carver Ken Anger, drew all of his own patterns. He was influenced by the carvers of the St. Clair Flats, where he hunted, and many of the local carvers. Adam also was aware of the work of those who preceded him, especially his cousins Ken and Cecil, and Ben Schmidt.

Careful rasp work is a trait of the Anger carvers and many other carvers of the St. Clair Flats region, and the deep wing outlines come from Ben Schmidt. Each keel has an inlaid lead weight, typical of the area. Best of all, the rasp grooves of Mr. Anger's working decoys flow in the direction of the feathering and creating a very pleasing and realistic surface. The decoys were available in magnum and regular sizes. Unless the hunter requested otherwise, the decoy had a keel. Divers were available with the standard tails and in a bobtail style. Especially on fast water, bobtails appear like a relaxed bird with its tail down.

Most decoys were done on order for hunters in his area, and many are still in use in a few rigs. However, very few Anger decoys are still available in mint condition. They are rare, highly collectible and they should be prized as the work of a man who consciously chose to make wooden birds that served and still serve their original purpose: hunting. Thank you, Adam Anger, for sharing these few for all to see.

For more background information about this marvelous carver, see Rucker, Laurence; Adam Anger,Continuing a Family Tradition; Decoy Magazine, March/April 1997, pp. 40-42.