About Joel D Barber

  • Biography

    Joel Barber is recognized among decoy collectors and historians as being among the very first persons to stimulate the study and collection of working decoys. An architect in New York City, Barber established the first recorded decoy museum, "Shanty Museum of Old Decoys" on his property in Wilton.

    He began collecting decoys after coming across a rig in an old sail loft in Babylon, New York. With this acquisition he began the pastime of collecting decoys or as he referred to them, "floating sculpture", Barber was one of the organizers of the 1923 Bellport Decoy Carving Show, which is credited with being the first held in the United States.

    In 1934, Barber's book Wild Fowl Decoys was published. Still in print, this styli...

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