Portland Press Herald - July 7, 1984

Collectors Find Quality at 'Shocking' Auction
By Ted Cohen

Alan G. Haid of Darien, Conn., and Hugh H. Turn- bull of Toronto, Canada, indulged themselves in their hobbies Friday.

It cost them plenty but they said their investments will pay off some day.

During an auction of antique wooden duck decoys in Portland, Haid paid $15,000 for one decoy. Turnbull paid a total of $12,000 for nine decoys.

"I shouldn't be smiling," said Turnbull, 43, a retired investment banker. "I should be crying."

But he said he couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy "first-rate, prize Canadian birds" to add to his collection. "I came to repatriate some good Canadian birds," he saId.

Haid, 48, a corporate official, wrote a check for $17,160 for two decoys, one of which cost him $15,000.

"It's a hobby," said Haid, who paused when asked about the high expense of maintaining such a hobby. "Generally, high quality things are a good investment," he said.

Turnbull, a summertime Kennebunk Beach resident, and Haid were among collectors who made a day of it at the Ramada Inn, where auctioneer James D. Julia sold 420 decoys for $400,000.

An unidentified man from the Midwest successfully bid $9,250 over the phone for one decoy.

"It sure is shocking," said Bruce G. Chase, a Portland police patrolman who was observing the proceedings.

Even Robert Guyette of Schenectady, N.Y., father of one of the auction's organizers, said during the auction, "I can't believe what I'm hearing."

Guyette and his wife came to babysit the children of their son, Gary M. Guyette, 34, of Farmington, who with Julia bought a decoy collection and offered it for sale at the auction.

"Decoys are an excellent investment," the younger Guyette said. "They have a very high appreciation value."

"Sport hunters with a lot of money want them to put on their shelves," he added.

Most of the decoys sold at Friday's auction came from the collection of Robert D. Congdon of Nantucket Island, Mass.

The younger Guyette and Julia bought the collection, which Guyette said cost $1,200 to insure for the auction.