This decoy is was made in the early 50s and the company lasted about 2 years. The company was headed by Theo "Ted" Himmelwright (1920 - present) and he attributes the idea for the decoy to George S. Bachay a sportswriter for the Janesville, Wisconsin paper.

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This is a mint example of a Blackhawk. The Blackhawk had two unique features not seen before. The first was rolling or sliding lead or steel ballast functional both for submerging the decoy and acting as a noise maker to attract fish. The second feature was able to bend the the shape of the tail by using the heat generated by holding the decoy in one's hand for a few minutes. With the tail bent the decoy became a circle swimmer. The warming process could be repeated to straighten or change the curve of the tail.  This has the original box and instruction sheet. This decoy appears to never have been ice spear fished with.

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The decoy is 6 1/2" long and the cheater hook tie was integrally molded into the body. The decoy came in three  different paint color finishes.  Brown back w/white belly, black back with white belly and red back with a white belly. The eyes were hand painted with either a red or white dot. The original box shows that the price sold for retail at $2.00 each.

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Click here to see more about Blackhawk under the BIO section

See Pages 57 & 58

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Information above taken from Commercial Fish Decoys - Identification & Value Guide by Frank R. Baron - ISBN 1-57432-267-2

Photos by Larry Christy

This page was last update on June 24, 2006

© 2006 - Christy