Duck Decoy Carvers: Part I Frankie Louis

This is the first video in a series about decoy carvers in Ogdensburg.

There are many duck hunters in St. Lawrence County and decoying a duck is well developed here in Ogdensburg and surrounding communities. Early duck hunters used live ducks to lure ducks to the blind. After this practice was outlawed, some hunters made stuffed decoys, but these didn’t last long. Eventually hunters created decoys using cedar for the bodies and pine for the heads. Many hunters carved ducks for their own use and will not be covered in this series.

One of the earliest commercial decoy carvers in the area was Frankie Louis (1878-1964). He was born in 1878 in Ogdensburg to Christopher Louis, who was from Alsace-Lorraine, France and Mary Delestre Louis, whose parents were also French. Frankie was one of 7 children. Christopher Louis built the home and shop at 325 Crescent St. where the family resided and where Frankie later operated a bicycle repair shop, car repair shop and decoy carving business.

As a young man Frankie Louis was a bicycle racer. His first race took place in Ogdensburg in 1893. He won the race that started at the Seymour House and ended at Morrissette Park. The prize was a $20 suit. Louis raced throughout the North Country and Canada until he retired as a bicycle racer in 1897. But he never lost interest in bicycles. He was the captain of the Crescent Cycling Club in the city, which had 65 members and met every Friday evening to go for a ride.

Frankie Louis worked in the family shop for his brother C.E. Louis repairing bicycles. His brother had over 50 bicycles that he rented out as well. When the popularity of bicycles declined they began repairing cars. In 1903 he had the first car dealership in the city, selling the Orient Buckboard. Later he sold Ford automobiles.

In 1903 he began carving decoys for himself. Using a dead duck as a model, he created a silhouette that led to his commercial venture, Louis’ Decoy Works. The decoys were made of cedar using a circular saw, hand saw and sanding belt. Louis carved the heads with a draw shave that he made himself. He carved over 5,000 decoys called “Ogdensburg Humpbacks'' that were sold around the nation. The silhouette was always the same, but the paint changed depending on the kind of duck. Louis was the first carver in the region to switch from using tack eyes to glass, which were imported from France. While critics said these “humpbacks'' didn't look like ducks, at $6.50 per dozen, the price couldn’t be beat. Business suffered in the mid-1920s after market hunting was outlawed ending Louis’ commercial work.

Frankie Louis continued to do car repairs and general repairs for the next 40 years at his shop. He and his sister Barbara, resided in the basement apartment in the building that their father built until her death in 1959 and his death in 1964.