William J. Mason opened his decoy factory in approximately 1896. Five grades of decoys were made. "Premier" and "Challenge" grades were the highest quality, as well as the highest price. More than thirty species of birds were produced. These "factory made" decoys had a lot of handwork involved in order to finish them, so that no two decoys were truly alike. The Drake Blue-Winged Teal "Premier" grade that I have painted,
sold for $12 per dozen in 1915.