The Armstrong Featherweight Decoy Company is said to have operated in the decade before World War II (c. 1931 – c.1941). The company advertised widely in sporting good magazines as offering for sale decoys, “scientifically made by hand, and carefully balanced”. The product line was a canvas cover printed with “renditions of the species coloration and feathers”. The bodies were filled with kapok or ground cork and sewed up with heavy duty waxed cord. A tapered wooded bill was inserted for a beak. Uke most decoys made to be “light weight”, Armstrong decoys did not always hold their balance in rough water.
The Armstrong company was one of a number of companies, largely in the West and mid-West to have manufactured decoys made of sewn canvas, water¬proofed, printed with patterns and stuffed with a buoyant material. The company advertised for sale mallard, pintail, bluebill, and goose decoys.
For additional information see:
American Factory Decoys, 1981 by Henry A. Fleckenstein Canvas Decoys of North America, 1995 by Archie Johnson
Decoys – A North American Survey, 1983 by Gene and Lindy Langas Floaters and Stick-Ups: A Personal Survey of Waterfowl Decoys, 1986 by George Reiger