Rich Reimenschneider

An Oconomowoc, WI Decoy Carver, Collector, Trapper and Fisherman

A Decoy Corner Article

By Bruce Urben, WWA President

Photos courtesy Bruce Urben. Author’s note: Oconomowoc is a city in southeast Wisconsin located in Waukesha County that was settled in 1837. The name “Oconomowoc” was derived from “Coo-no-mo-wauk”, the Potawatomi Indian term for “waterfalls”.

Rich Reimenschneider was born in Milwaukee in 1913 and lived there for almost 30 years. He moved to Oconomowoc in the 1940’s and lived there for the rest of his life. He was employed as a Food Broker.

Rich’s mother started him on his carving career in grade school by supplying him with bars of soap that he carved into miniature ducks. By the time Rich was 11 years old, his grade school past-time turned into the beginning of his occupation for most of the rest of his life.

Rich’s uncle was a passionate waterfowler and in order for him to hunt with his uncle it was required that he help to maintain the hunting equipment. Rich’s job was replacing broken decoy heads and re-painting worn out decoys. After more than 500 repairs on decoys, he had the knowledge and experience to design and carve his own decoys. At first, Rich drew his own patterns but later began carving his decoys from memory.

His first decoys were carved from wood, usually dry cedar or white pine. He later focused on carving his decoys from salvaged cork, which was available after the war.

After carving the general shape of the head and body, he refined them with sandpaper, attached his heads with rabbit glue (a refined collagen from rabbit skin) and set agate eyes that he obtained from a local taxidermist. He painted feathers on each decoy with a comb brush that was made in England and many times used a fine netting over the decoy’s wet paint to add texture.

Reimenschneider was quite the inventor. He built many of the machines he used in carving in his basement workshop, including a sanding wheel and grinding wheels from discarded sewing machine or typewriter stands. According to records, it is reported that Rich made 2,000-3,000 decoys, which included almost every one of the 36 species that migrate through the Mississippi Flyway. He donated many of his decoys to local organizations including Ducks Unlimited, but, most were sold to local waterfowlers.

Rich stopped duck hunting in 1987, but was instrumental in organizing the Lake Country Carvers show that is still held every year in July in Delafield in Waukesha County!

Rich passed away in September of 1995. His decoys are still highly regarded and collected by Wisconsin collectors, some selling for hundreds of dollars. It is usually easy to recognize a Reimenschneider decoy as his RR initials are almost always embedded in the decoy bottom or under the tail or bill on each one he carved.

Rich Reimenschneider – another Wisconsin Original decoy carver!