Ferdinand Homme – A Stoughton, Wisconsin Carver

A Decoy Corner Article

By Bruce Urben, President

Ferdinand (Ferd) Homme was born in 1900 to his father, T.O Homme, and his mother, Della Mandt. He was raised and lived his entire life in Stoughton, WI with his eight younger siblings. Ferd served as the secretary for the Stoughton Sportsman’s Club for many years. He was well known in Stoughton as the “Town Historian” and was hired by the Stoughton Historical Society to write the history of the town for the Centennial Celebration.

Ferd was an avid waterfowler and decoy carver. He received his early training in carving from his father. He worked for Wisconsin Power and Light for 40 years before he retired. Ferd and his brother, Mandt, hunted the Yahara river at the “big marsh” located half way between Lake Koshkonong and Lake Kegonsa. Ferd’s decoy carving was started because of his own need for hunting decoys, and later as a hobby, supplying local hunters with quality decoys. Ferd’s brother Mandt was also an excellent carver, but carved fewer than 100 decoys. Ferd’s output was substantially more, based upon the number of decoys with “Ferd Homme” carved into the bottom in careful block letters.

Ferd carved most of his decoys from local sugar pine and was known to have hollowed all of his decoy bodies. His carved decoys were all in natural poses, many with tucked and turned heads. His wing tips were raised, and primary feathers were individually carved. Most of his bills had fine details carved into them. Ferd painted his decoys with oil paints in a highly realistic style. It is not unusual to see his decoys with the backs combed and blended.

Ferd and his brother were very good friends with carver Enoch Reindahl, also from Stoughton, and they frequently carved together. It is said that Ferd taught Enoch some unique methods he later used in hollowing his decoys.

It has been found that Ferd carved mallard, canvasback, black duck, wood duck, goldeneye and pintail decoys. It should be noted that few, if any, bluebill decoys have been found carved by Ferd. It has been documented that Ferd disliked the taste of bluebills and avoided hunting or carving them! Many of Ferd’s decoys have been discovered to have sleeper or nestled heads.

Ferd passed away in Stoughton in 1963 at the age of 63.

Ferd and his brother Mandt are an important part of a strong school of Wisconsin carvers like Gromme, Reindahl and Dettman. His output was limited, so his decoys are hard to find, and as expected, in high demand by collectors. Homme decoys can be found occasionally on decoy auction sites and the Decoy Collector Guide confirmed sale values of $2,300-$8,500 in the past!

Ferd Homme decoys are surely floating sculptures and would happily grace any waterfowler’s mantel or collector’s shelf.

Another Wisconsin Original!