A rare collection of memorabilia from famed outdoor writer Gordon MacQuarrie is on display at a new community museum in Barnes, Wisconsin. MacQuarrie’s famous “Old Duck Hunter’s Association, Inc.” was headquartered at his cabin just down the road from the museum, and even decades after his passing, MacQuarrie remains a favorite son of the region.
The collection features items used by MacQuarrie during his heyday as an outdoor writer for sporting magazines in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. Included are decoys, a duck boat, fishing gear, and even one of MacQuarrie’s old typewriters.
Desk still life: Reading “Stories of the Old Duck Hunters & Other Drivel” by Gordon MacQuarrie. Original MacQuarrie decoys, his pipe, and a photograph of Mr. President (aka Al Peck, aka Hizzoner). (Photo: Keith Crowley Images)
Many of the items came from MacQuarrie’s son-in-law, the late Tom Wieder. Wieder married MacQuarrie’s only daughter, Sally, in 1953, and shortly after MacQuarrie’s untimely passing in 1956, Sally and Tom took the treasured heirlooms with them to California. They hoped, however, that the items might one day be publicly displayed back in MacQuarrie’s beloved northwest Wisconsin.
Operated by the Barnes (WI) Area Historical Association, the facility is located at 5650 Kelly Lake Road in the Town of Barnes. The museum is currently only open weekends during the summer tourist season, but the collection can be viewed year-round by prior appointment.
More information is available at bahamuseum.org.