An avid outdoorsman and bird hunter, Sperry designed and produced some of the first balsa wood duck decoys in the early 1920s. He started Sperry Natural Decoys, whose buyers included Abercrombie & Fitch and Kirkland Brothers. The company's sole supplier of raw materials, the American Balsa Company, raised its prices, which contributed to Sperry closing the business after fulfillment of its final orders.
