Graden Richey, and
his wife Louise, spend most of their
lives in central Pennsylvania. He
was employed as a craftsman working
as a loom fixer and as a tool and
die maker as well as other jobs.
He began making turkey
calls in the 1940's when a friend
showed him one of Roy Rhodes scratch
box calls and asked him if he could
make a better call. Graden experimented
and came up with an "adjustable
tone" turkey call. He applied
for a patent but was rejected. The
call was a scratch box which had
adjusting screws on the top of the
striking board. The 2 screws would
pull / push the board tight or loose
to make different tones. There was
a small blade on the wooden striker
which functioned as the screwdriver.
Graden retired in
1971 and began spending all of his
time in the wood shop making turkey
calls, furniture and other products.
He made both single and double-sided
boxes with the single-sided models
being much more abundant. Single-sided
calls were made up until about 1978
and the double-sided up until around
1985 with an estimated 3,000 total
calls produced.
Generally, his calls
were made from walnut with poplar
sides although some of the older
calls were all black walnut. Some
of the earlier calls he made in
the late 1940's came in the green
boxes with "Pat Pending"
stamped on the box.
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Turkey
Calls Produced
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(Click
on Images to Enlarge)
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Years
Produced
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Description
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1940's
- ??
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This is an
example of a single-sided,
scratch box made in the 1940's.
This particular call has 1949
pencilled on the box top which
was most likely the year it
was made.
Most Richey's
calls usually are made from
walnut with a poplar side
for the striking surface and
a poplar striker, this call
is all walnut.
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?? -
??
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This is a
newer version of the Richey's
call (New tan box, with zip
code). I'm not sure exactly
when they switched to this
box but it is by far the box
you'll see most often in call
collections. The older green-boxed
versions are very scarce in
good condition.
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