Availability
More than century old, the OLT brand
now has an Online Store featuring customizable Hard Rubber calls, modernized
originals and newly designed models for waterfowl, turkey, predators and big
game.
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“I learned as a teenager using a P.S. Olt D-2
duck call, which was designed by Philip Stanford of Pekin, Illinois
in the early 1900s. It was an Arkansas-style call, which is a one-piece insert
with a straight reed and a curved tone board.”
Photos
The call shown is not a new one,
but instead a call that was first purchased by the author’s father-in-law from
a rural Wisconsin farm supply and probably in
the 1970’s. The author was given this call after spotting it in his
father-in-law’s workshop.
“Philip Olt converted a chicken
coop on his family’s farm into a wood shop and started making duck calls. Olt’s
D-2 Duck Call and A-50 Goose Call were some of the first manufactured duck
calls in the world, which is why he is often called the “father” of the
manufactured call.”
Material
P.S. Olt was not only the
originator of efficiently manufactured calls, he was also the original call
maker committed to developing game calls resistant to weather conditions,
climate, humidity and moisture.
Major Philip Olt IV (retired U.S.
Army Major and retired Air Force employee) of P.S. Olt, LLC®, in a February 2014
interview, announced that laboratory analyses of call samples revealed that Olt
game calls were never made of Bakelite (an early, brittle plastic of phenol,
formaldehyde, and wood). Olt
maintains that their calls have been made of Horn (Hoof) Powder, Hard Rubber and
ABS (Acrylic + Rubber). Philip Olt (Feb 2014 INTRV) mentioned that his
grandfather switched to plastic material as part of the war effort when the
supply of natural rubber from Southeast Asia
was blocked. Nowadays, Olt sells models that are made of the original Hard
Rubber material as well as models made from “an innovative,
new material (that) increases durability for long life and trouble-free
operation” - psolt.com
Early on, P.S. Olt experimented
with Horn Powder as a call material. Horn Powder, (which usually contains very
little horn) is a Molding Powder made from ground hoof and horn meal or flour.
Horn Powder was well liked by (clothing) button makers and was later refined
into one of the first Natural Thermoset Plastics.
To better understand articles made from horn;
here is an example unrelated to Olt Co.
“The hardened
product can be molded at a temperature ranging between about 130 and 150 C. to
form permanently glossy shapes which do not swell, are not subject to changes
of volume or shape and can be turned, planed and bored.” – Production
of thermosetting molding compositions and molded articles from natural horn
1939
Lego, the most
profitable toy in the world, is also formed of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and attributes its durability
to ABS’ natural rubber component.
Design
Olt is an iconic Game Call and
Field Sport Brand typically characterized by neat, stick forms and the darkest
possible black color.
The barrel portion of Olt’s D-2
Duck Call is a single part. A large bead profile with a flat serves as the band
used by other call makers to prevent splitting and a small bead forms a cove for
attaching a lanyard.
Inside of Olt’s duck call, a
single part serves as the stopper/insert, reed/cork/wedge socket, tone channel,
tone hole and bell.
Olt’s duck call design persists as
the normal design for most modern duck calls and although from Illinois, Olt’s design
has been misbranded as the Arkansas Style.
Olt’s curved tone board design
(without the reed socket) is also part of the Louisiana Style of call.
Knock-Out | Reverse Type Design
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"SkilcraftUSGovtPen" by
User:Tom - User:Tom. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via
Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SkilcraftUSGovtPen.jpg#mediaviewer/File:SkilcraftUSGovtPen.jpg
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A black body with important white
imprinting is a time-honored symbol of uncomplicated design, epitomized by Bell’s Rotary Dials,
Skilcraft Pens, Combs, Label Makers and so on.
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"Rotarydial" by R Sull.
Dhscommtech at English Wikipedia - Own work (Original text: “self-made”).
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia
Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rotarydial.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Rotarydial.JPG
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Modern Art
Historically, Illinois was the top producer of early,
original duck calls and call makers. Although many early calls from Illinois
have a slender, bare form, P.S. Olt’s D-2 Duck Call is an elegant masterpiece
of pure design, worthy of Modern Art Design Collections.
Reliability
While other early call makers are famous
for beautifying the exterior of bulky, kludge calls, Olt went much further by
perfecting the usefulness of the duck call.
Olt’s engineering accomplished long-term
duck call performance goals resulting in
“…the most popular duck
call ever produced” and “The largest selling duck call in the history of duck
calling.” –psolt.com
A makeshift audio analysis of Olt’s D-2 call revealed that Olt's D-2 bears more of a resemblance to a live duck’s quack than a double-reed Polycarbonate call.
A double-reed Polycarbonate call's quack appeared (visually) lopsided compared to to a live duck's quack.
Although Olt calls produce an effective perception of duck
utterances, they were discovered to be highly customizable, broadening their
popularity and adding monikers like the
Nowadays, Olt sells a customizable call kit:
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Decals and Calls Available at:
