1838-1912 | Monmouth, Illinois
Fred A. Allen of Monmouth, Illinois was one of the earliest pioneers to make waterfowl hunting products. He made calls, decoys, bow-facing oars in the 19th century. It has always been a toss up on who was the first to make commercial calls, Allen or Grubbs. Grubbs claimed he made the first commercial call in 1868, and Allen claims he did in 1863. Whether one wishes to cite earliest rumored production, Allen’s call pre-date those of Charles Grubbs.
Fred Allen’s first attempt at callmaking was a call made out of nickel plated metal. These calls first showed up in the August 5th, 1880 edition of Forest and Stream. The calls had a great sound to them and were sought after enough that someone from New Jersey tried to copy them in 1885. For that reason, Allen advertised in the January 8th, 1885 issue of Forest and Stream warning hunters of the “villainous” copy. The problem with the nickel plated calls was they would stick to hunters lips in freezing conditions. Allen discontinued the nickel plated call in the early 1890’s and started making a call with a wooden barrel and metal stopper. The vast majority of Allen’s calls are made out of plain walnut but there are a few examples of his earliest calls made out of purple heart and cocobola.
