According to Donald Howes and Arthur Gould, both dear friends and both now deceased, Cleon Crowell, (1891-1961) joined his famous father Elmer in the manufacture of decoys and decorative carvings around 1918 after his return from WW1 due to a bout of influenza. From that period forward until the late 40’s both worked on different aspects of decoy and decorative bird carving as a team and it is impossible, in my humble opinion, to tell who sanded, primed, finish painted or carved the high quality product they produced together. Cleon also did remodeling jobs along the way during slow times in the early years after which he would often gift a carved decoy or bird to his customer. Elmer also did odd jobs when things were slow. I was once offered a shingle that was branded with the oval hot brand on the underside from a roof job Elmer did. I regret that I did not find time to visit the potential donor and pick it up as well as any interesting insights about Cape Cod’s famous artist. T S H
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