Jersey Shore Magazine

j e r s e y s h o r e • F A L L / H O L I D A Y 2 0 2 1 39 Likewise, Eugene's son, Nathan (1890-1936), made a living as a boat- builder and became the second gener- ation of Birdsall carvers. His brother, Arthur Birdsall (1893-1936), was destined to be Art's grandfather and namesake. He too was a boat build- er and decoy carver. Arthur's sons were Charles Randolph Birdsall (1920-1986) and Art's father, James E. Birdsall (1921-1994). Art's Uncle Charlie was a carpenter by trade, and he and James formed Birdsall Brothers Building Inc. The Point Pleasant business did carpentry, masonry, and construction work. During the 1950s, Uncle Charlie also made beautiful hand-carved decoys on the side and became the third generation of Birdsall carvers. In 1961, after he was injured in a stock car race in 1958 and then diag- nosed with tuberculosis, he focused his attention on establishing a shop, Wildfowler Decoys, in Point Pleasant that would produce high quality, factory decoys. Wildfowler Decoys, at 1309 Bay Avenue, was just five doors down the street from where Artie grew up. As a youngster, Art would frequent the shop and play in the yard, occasion- ally target shooting at hubcaps with a BB gun. Charlie started with hand- carved decoys but began to use dupli- cating machines. These cut down on production time and served to rough W hat does religious persecution, the New World, market gunning, and a sea captain from the mid-1800s have to do with a small decoy shop in the Lovelandtown section of Point Pleasant? It is part of the continuing legacy of Capt. Jesse Birdsall (1843-1927), a nineteenth century sea captain from Barnegat, and four generations of decoy carvers, a tradition now carried on by Arthur Birdsall. Art traces his family roots in the New World back to the 1600s when his family moved from Long Island to the Barnegat settlement (then Toms River). During the winter, when sailing was more dangerous, his great-uncle Jesse made a supplemental living by market gunning and guiding hunters for waterfowl. He also became a skilled and prolific decoy carver of black ducks, goldeneye, broadbill, and Canadian geese. Today, Jesse's works are prized and coveted by collectors. This tradition became a family badge. Jesse's kid brother and Art's great-grandfather, Eugene Nathan Birdsall (1857-1918), moved to Point Pleasant around 1890 where his primary occupations were as a blacksmith and gunsmith, but he also fished, clammed, and made decoys. They were small and light in weight, so they could be easily carried on a sneakbox. (The small boat, pre- dominantly associated with Barnegat Bay, is favored by wildfowl hunters. The hunting craft is lightweight, seaworthy, and is easily managed by one man. It can be sailed, rowed, poled, or sculled through shallow waters and has a low profile that can be camouflaged.) Art Birdsall, master decoy carver in his Point Pleasant shop, explains how the carved decoy is split, hollowed out, glued back together, sanded, and painted. Behind him is the multi- spline carver machine, commonly called the duplicator. It can produce as many as twelve copies of an original. continued on page 40

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