Old Stuff is History....and Just Wonderful!

The very things that I am most passionate about...I am going to blog about!  I kind of wish I would have started this blog awhile ago....but it is certainly never too late!  So here is my first post and it is more of an introduction of myself and my interests!


First off...I live in Maryland on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay with my wonderful black duck dogs Jessie and Jet.  My business and my home The Canvasback Gallery is situated on a wonderful and scenic body of water...with lots of...yes...waterfowl!


I enjoy the sport of waterfowling...been hunting both waterfowl and upland birds since I was a young boy....it is in my blood.  I even ended up as a waterfowl research biologist for a number of years...you can read about my educational and work background in my profile...so will not bore you here.  I know nothing else but Waterfowl and Waterfowling!  I am proud of my creation....The Canvasback Gallery...as it certainly sums up my life!


I love history...and I very much enjoy waterfowling history...specifically as it pertains to one of the most famous bodies of water in this country...The Chesapeake Bay and more specifically the Susquehanna Flats in the very upper portion of the Chesapeake.  A place that waterfowl once blackened the sky...and a place where watermen were able to make a living on the rich bounty of game for so many years.

John Pusey with Cans and Shotguns.  C. John Sullivan photo

Given that I love history...my goal is to preserve that history through being a collector and through continued study of these old artifacts and dissemination of that information.  I collect wonderful wooden vintage decoys...mostly Canvasback decoys by many of the makers from the Upper Chesapeake Bay...my favorites being those earliest decoys made by John "Daddy" Holly and his son Jim Holly of Havre de Grace.  Also decoys made by John Graham of Charlestown and also those made by Ben Dye of Perry Point and decoys by his son Joe Dye of Havre de Grace.  In addition, I collect old double barrel and single barrel shotguns by a few more obscure early American makers for example; Alexander McComas and Charles Sneider (Clark and Sneider) of Baltimore, Patrick Mullin (P. Mullin) of New York, John Krider of Philadelphia and David Kirkwood (D. Kirkwood) of Boston.  I collect both large gauge (4, 8, and 10 gauge) muzzle-loading and breech-loading shotguns but have recently been collecting smaller gauges (12, 16 and 20 gauge) as well.  So if you have any of these neat old tools of the trade...please contact me!  Yes...I collect everything else that deals with waterfowling of the past....gunpowder tins, shotshell boxes, shotgun tools, old books, hunting licenses, advertising, flat art and whatever else that may have some historic value. 


I have made some great friends over the years...and hope to continue to meet others with similar interests.  Thanks for following my blog...will try to post interesting things regularly.  You can also stay up to date and check out new stuff that I may have for trade or for sale at The Canvasback Gallery website.


Jeff