Brand Archive

AN INTRODUCTION OF BRAND IDENTIFICATION

What is a BRAND?

A brand is a particular and indelible mark identifying “ownership.”  The brand may appear as a series of letters, a name, symbol, logo or other mark used to distinguish the ownership of the decoy. The signature of the maker is not considered a brand.

Generally, the brand appears on the bottom or underside of the decoy and may be burned, carved, cold stamped, or painted, or it may be molded into the decoy’s weight.

How brands will be identified within this website

Brands will be organized in alphabetical order using the FIRST letter of the brand, and further identified by its owner or origin, such as: maker, collector, hunter, club/camp, scow/yacht, or other source.

A photograph of each brand will be presented, along with a photograph of the decoy on which that brand is located. Photographs should be of the highest possible resolution.  Photo files should be named or titled according to the brand, for example, xyzbrand1.jpg. Additional photographs may be submitted and may include, in addition to the brand and decoy, images of such things as the maker, the club, the scow or yacht, or anything of significance to the brand.

The brand will be identified by type: burned, carved, cold stamped, painted, ink stamped, maker/collector/owner marks, molded into the weight, or other types. Additionally, a detailed description of the brand and location on the decoy, including measurements/size, and types of letters, (for example, serif or non-serif), will be provided.

Following the “mechanical” aspects of a brand, a brief narrative, a text document describing the decoy’s provenance and, if possible, its historical significance will be provided.  Narratives should be forwarded as Microsoft Word files or Apple Pages.  Details within the narrative should provide help in identifying the relationship of the brand to time periods of use, a general date of construction, etc.  Additionally, if the brand is similar to brands on other species, is used on other species, or includes additional identifying marks, the narrative should include this information.

In addition to the narrative describing the brand on a specific decoy, a list of references and/or sources should be provided and website(s) cited if appropriate.

How to submit entries and/or information

Authors should submit entries to kclattenburg@wardfdn.org.  Submissions will be edited as necessary and uploaded to the Ward Foundation website. Importantly, the name and contact information of the contributor/author must be included.  If similar information on a particular brand is submitted, the contributor(s) of that information will be cited.

Ward Brand Archive Submission Form PDF

WARD BRAND ARCHIVE SUBMISSION FORM WORD DOCUMENT