Tin Sign Info

 Duck hunters use duck decoys to lure unsuspecting waterfowl into range so that the waiting hunters are able to shoot the ducks. Although they still use decoys for hunting, many antique and collectible stores have vintage duck hunting decoys in their shops to lure in vintage decoy collectors.

In North America, decoy history dates back over two thousand years and even further back in Egypt and other areas of the world. The Smithsonian Museum houses many of the oldest duck decoys found in the United States, Canada and other parts of North America. They found many of these unique bird replicas along with native pottery pieces in a cave in Arizona. They made traditional, hand carved, wooden duck decoys primarily from the mid eighteen hundreds to approximately the mid nineteen hundreds. Vintage hunting decoys are desired folk art to many collectors, beautiful works of art to numerous duck collectors, and to some people they are simply wonderful country accents. Vintage duck hunting decoys along with other old items are highly collectable and sought after. Some vintage duck decoys which are very sough after include:

1. 1900 vintage duck hunting decoy by Charles Birch of a mallard duck

2. Circa 1890 goldeneye Harry Shourds vintage duck hunting decoy from the Tuckerton, New Jersey area

3.Circa 1875 Dodge mallard drake vintage duck hunting decoy by J. N. Dodge

4. Walter Avis circa 1925 Vintage redhead duck decoy from Toronto, Canada

5. Circa 1920 – 1930 Benjamin Schmidt over-sized black duck decoy

For people interested in collecting vintage decoys, be careful of reproductions, which fool many collectors. Telling an average decoy from a valuable one and a new one from an old one is often very tricky. Vintage decoys had solid color formalized patterns whereas contemporary ones have real looking feather painting. Many of the old decoys had eyes made of metal tacks, or ones they carved by hand and painted. They used glass eyes on the later duck decoys. Because they carved the decoys in the nineteenth century by hand using a rasp, draw knife, and hand ax, always look for tool marks on the decoy. By the mid 1850′s, they carved hollow decoys made of up to three sections. They also used wood and metal silhouettes know as stick-ups and shadow decoys. Look for the vintage duck hunting decoys makers name on the keel weight if the decoy still has one attached. After the Civil War, the duck decoys tail and beak were carved and its body made of cork.

This classic tin sign has the look and feel of a Norman Rockwell painting. The Decoy Maker tin sign would make an excellent gift for hanging on either a den or hunting lodge wall.

Motorcycle sport is a broad field that encompasses all sporting aspects of motorcycling. The disciplines are not all “races” or timed-speed events, as several disciplines test a competitor’s various riding skillsMotorcycle racing (also known as Moto racing and Bike racing) is a motorcycle sport involving racing motorcycles. Motorcycle racing can be divided into two categories, tarmac-based road disciplines and off road.

Track racing is a motorcycle sport where teams or individuals race opponents around an oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type.A road rally is a navigation event on public roads whereby competiors must visit a number of checkpoints in diverse geographical locations while still obeying road traffic laws (not to be confused with car rallies such as WRC).

Land Speed is where a single rider accelerates over a 1 to 3-mile (4.8 km) long straight track (usually on dry lake beds) and is timed for top speed through a trap at the end of the run. The rider must exceed the previous top speed record for that class or type of bike for their name to be placed on the record books.
Freestyle Motocross
A competition based upon points for acrobatic ability on an MX bike over jumps.

Trials commonly take place on rocky terrainKnown in the US as “Observed Trials”, it is not racing, but a sport nevertheless. Trials is a test of skill on a motorcycle whereby the rider attempts to traverse an observed section without placing a foot on the ground (and traditionally, although not always, without ceasing forward motion). The winner is the rider with the least penalty points.

Time and observation trials are trials with a time limit. The person who completes the route the quickest sets the “standard time” and all other competitors must finish within a certain amount of time of the standard time to be counted as a finisher (they received penalty points for every minute after the quickest finisher). This is combined with the penalty points accrued from the observed sections to arrive at a winner, who is not alway the quickest rider or the rider who lost the less marks on observation but the rider who balanced these competing demands the best. One of the most famous time and observation trials is the “Scott” trial held annually in North Yorkshire.

Indoor Trials are trials held in stadiums (not necessarily with a roof) which by their very nature use man made artificial sections in contrast to outdoor trials with rely heavily on the natural terrain.

Golf is a sport in which players using many types of clubs including woods, irons, and putters, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a standardized playing area; rather, the game is played on golf “courses”, each one of which has a unique design and typically consists of either 9 or 18 holes. Golf is defined in the Rules of Golf as “playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules”.

Golf competition is generally played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known simply as stroke play, or for the lowest score on the most individual holes during a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play.

If you have someone who is golf nut they love this golf tin sign.

After a long court battle, Ali was convicted of draft evasion and sentenced to five years in jail and fined $10,000 fine, but  in another lawsuit in 1970, a judge ruled that Ali could still box professionally.  The new heavyweight champion was Joe Frazier, and a match was scheduled et for 8 March 1971. Newspapers called it “The Fight of the Century.” In the fifteenth round, Frazier knocked Ali down. Ali got back up, but all the judges named Frazier the winner.
 
That same year, Ali won his legal battle when the U.S. Supreme Court said he was not guilty of draft evasion–He should not have been drafted at all. Ali spent the next three years fighting other champions, including Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson (making a brief comeback attempt), Joe Bugner and Ken Norton, winning all but one fight to Ken Norton. He also won a unanimous decision over Frazier on 28 January 1974, but Frazier had lost the heavyweight title to George Foreman.  So Ali next had to fight Foreman.
 
Millions of people sat before their televisions to watch the fight between Ali and Foreman, staged as “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Sixty thousand fans gathered at the stadium in Kinshasa in Zaire on 30 October 1974. People favored Foreman, who was seven years younger than the 32-year-old Ali, but Ali fought brilliantly, tiring his opponent using “rope-a-dope” tactics. In round eight, Ali knocked out Foreman. He could still “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” as he liked to say.  Ali had regained the undisputed world heavyweight title.
 
After defending his heavyweight title six times–including a third fight with Joe Frazier–Ali lost it to Leon Spinks on 15 February 1978 in a split decision. He regained the WBA title from Spinks seven months later in a unanimous decision, becoming the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times. In 1979 Ali announced his retirement, at that point having lost only three times in 59 fights, but he returned to fight World Boxing Council champion Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick of Canada in 1981, losing both.  Ali then retired permanently.
 
As Ali entered his forties, he looked ill. In 1984 it was assumed that he was suffering from a series of symptoms variously known as “punch drunk” syndrome, or chronic encephalopathy of boxers, but Ali had Parkinson’s disease, an illness of the nervous system for which he was taking medication. “I feel fine,” he insisted. “I’m older and fatter, but we all change.”
 
Ali was selected to light the Olympic flame at the 1996 summer games in Atlanta, Georgia. Muhammad Ali is one of the all time greats in boxing and you can have one of his famous tin signs for your collection.

Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay) was born 17 January 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky to parents of modest circumstances.  He started boxing in junior high, when he learned boxing from a policeman at a local gym. By the time that Ali had reached high school, he already intended to be a prizefighter and hoped to box in the Olympics.  As an amateur boxer, Ali attracted notice in 1960 by winning the Amateur Athletic Union light heavyweight and Golden Gloves heavyweight championships. At the Rome Olympics in 1960, Ali crushed his opponents to win a gold medal in the light heavyweight division.
 
After turning pro, Ali defeated his first opponents.  Then on 25 February 1964, he fought, and knocked out, Sonny Liston in seven rounds, thus becoming the new heavyweight world champion.  Ali defended his title nine times from 1965 to 1967 and became universally recognized as world heavyweight champion after outpointing World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Ernie Terrell in fifteen rounds on 6 February 1967. Ali often proclaimed his invincibility in verse and boasted, “I am the greatest!”
 
Soon after becoming heavyweight champion, Ali decided to change his religion and joined the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims), taking the Muslim name “Muhammad Ali.”  The Vietnam War then interrupted Ali’s career.  In 1967, he was inducted into the military, but he refused to serve, saying his religious beliefs forbade him to fight. While some Americans praised Ali for risking prison to stand up for his beliefs, others called him a draft dodger and traitor.  The government charged him with violating the Selective Service Act; his titles were taken from him; and he was not allowed to box.

Any big sports fan would love to have this tin sign for his man cave.
 
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Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975 in El Cajon, California) is a current NASCAR Sprint Cup race car driver who drives the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet Impala SS co-owned by Rick Hendrick and his teammate Jeff Gordon and operated by Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson is the reigning three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. In 2008 he became only the second driver to win three consecutive Sprint Cup Series Championships (Cale Yarborough won in 1976, ’77, and ’78).
Johnson began his racing career on 50cc motorcycles at the age of five years old. Johnson was successful on motorcycles at an early age. By the time he was eight, he won the 60cc class championship despite injuring his knee with several races left in the season. From motorcycle racing he made the move onto four wheels and competed in several off-road leagues including SODA, SCORE International and Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group. He accumulated over 25 wins, 100 top-three finishes, six championships, and received Rookie of the Year honors in all three leagues. Johnson raced with Herzog Motorsports in the 1996 and 1997 SODA series. Johnson was a field reporter for ESPN in the SODA series.

 
Jimmie Johnson qualifying at Auto Club SpeedwayIn 1998, Johnson joined the American Speed Association (ASA) circuit, finishing fourth in the season while picking up Rookie of the Year honors. During this time, Johnson also began racing in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving in three events. In 1999, Johnson continued to run in both the ASA and the Busch Series, winning twice and finishing third in the ASA point race. By 2000, Johnson became a Busch Series driver with Herzog Motorsports, finished 10th in the points standings and third in the Rookie of the Year standings. He won his only Busch Series race in 2001 at the Hills Brothers Coffee 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in his 81st series event.

During the 2000 Season, Johnson was left in a tight spot while racing in the NASCAR Busch Series. Herzog Motorsports, which had fielded Johnson’s cars for much of his career, was in a dilemma after losing their sponsor, Alltel to Penske Racing shortly after Roger Penske’s son Greg was named to Alltel’s Board of Directors. During the driver’s meeting before the Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway, Johnson asked fellow NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon for advice. Gordon kept in touch with Johnson after the incident, and a few months later, Hendrick Motorsports, on Gordon’s recommendation, offered him a driver development deal with the potential of advancing in 2002.

Johnson’s pre-Sprint Cup career is also noted for a crash that occurred at Watkins Glen when the brakes on his car failed heading into turn one. With his car running almost at full-speed, Johnson crashed head-on into the Styrofoam insulation and guardrail. Surprisingly Johnson emerged from the car uninjured, pumping his fists in the air in excitement.

If your a big NASCAR fan you will want this Jimmie Johson tin sign for your collection.

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500 or commonly known simply as The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The event lends its name to the IndyCar class of formula, or open-wheel, race cars that have competed in it.

The event, billed as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, is one of the oldest motorsport events, and is considered one of the three most significant motor racing events in the world. While the official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, with a permanent seating capacity for more than 257,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity further to an approximate 400,000, it is the largest single-day sporting event in the world.

The race has been broadcast live on the radio in its entirety by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network since 1953. It was televised live from 1949-1950 on WFBM-TV. During parts of the 60′s and 70′s the race was broadcast on closed-circuit TV for viewing in theaters and sports venues. From 1965-1985, ABC Sports, now known as “ESPN on ABC”, broadcast the race via tape delay. Since 1986, ABC has televised the race live in its entirety (although live coverage is blacked out in the Indianapolis market). In 2007, the race was first broadcast in HD.

The 93rd running will be held on Sunday May 24, 2009, marking the 64th consecutive year of uninterrupted occurrence.  If you have a NASCAR fan they will want one of these Indy 500 tin signs for their collection.

Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1888 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed “Shoeless Joe”, was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century. He is remembered for his performance on the field and for his association with the Black Sox Scandal, when members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. As a result of Jackson’s association with the scandal, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Major League Baseball’s first commissioner, banned Jackson from playing after the 1920 season.

Jackson played for three different Major League teams during his 12-year career. He spent 1908-09 as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics; 1910 through the first part of the 1915 with the Cleveland Naps/Indians; and the remainder of the 1915 season through 1920 with the Chicago White Sox.

Jackson, who played left field for most of his career, currently has the third highest career batting average. With his career having been cut short, the usual decline of a batter’s hitting skills toward the end of a career did not have a chance to occur. In 1911, Jackson hit for a .408 average. That average is still the sixth highest single-season total since 1901, which marked the beginning of the modern era for the sport. His average that year set the record for highest batting average in a single season by a rookie. Babe Ruth claimed that he modeled his hitting technique after Jackson’s.

Jackson still holds the White Sox franchise records for triples in a season and career batting average. In 1999, he ranked number 35 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The fans voted him as the 12th best outfielder of all-time.

Jackson ranks 33rd on the all-time list for non-pitchers according to the win shares formula developed by Bill James.

People who are big baseball fans will love any of these old time baseball tin signs.

Theodore Samuel “Ted” Williams (August 30, 1918–July 5, 2002) also nicknamed The Kid, the Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame and The Thumper, was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball. He played 21 seasons, twice interrupted by military service as a Marine Corps pilot, with the Boston Red Sox. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball.

Williams was a two-time American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner, led the league in batting six times, and won the Triple Crown twice. He had a career batting average of .344, with 521 home runs, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. He is the last player in Major League Baseball to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941). Williams holds the highest career batting average of anyone with 500 or more home runs. His career year was 1941, when he hit .406 with 37 HR, 120 RBI, and 135 runs scored. His .551 on base percentage set a record that stood for 61 years. An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a television show about fishing and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.

If you have a big baseball fan in the family there sure to love any of the baseball tin signs around.

Henry Louis “Lou” Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s, chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter and the longevity of his consecutive games played record, and the pathos of his tearful farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with a fatal disease. Popularly called “The Iron Horse” for his durability, Gehrig set several Major League records. His record for most career grand slams (23) still stands as of 2009. In 1969, Gehrig was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the BaseBall Writers’ Association. Gehrig was the leading vote-getter on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen by fans in 1999.]

A native of New York City, he played for the New York Yankees until his career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now commonly referred to in the United States as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Over a 15-season span between 1925 and 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games. The streak ended when Gehrig became disabled with the fatal neuromuscular disease that claimed his life two years later. His streak, long believed to be one of baseball’s few unbreakable records, stood for 56 years until finally broken by Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles on September 6, 1995.

Gehrig accumulated 1,995 runs batted in (RBI) in seventeen seasons with a lifetime batting average of .340, a lifetime on-base percentage of .447, and a lifetime slugging percentage of .632. Three of the top six RBI seasons in baseball history belong to Gehrig. He was selected to each of the first seven All-Star games (though he did not play in the 1939 game, as he retired one week before it was held, and he won the American League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1927 and 1936. He was also a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBI’s.