Bergman began carving full-time commercially in 1929 after his retirement. From 1926 to 1935 the top of the bill on his birds was rounded, afterwards the bill became sharper on top. The fine grain cedar blocks were sawed in half above the water line, hollowed, glued and nailed. Rarely do the two body halves or head unglue and separate. The necks are fragile and cracks are common on many of them. Bergman’s painting is an outstanding combination of carefully applied colors, graphic design and scratch patterns.
A local storeowner that sold Bergman decoys said that Bergman’ daughter, Anne, painted many decoys during busy time of high demand. Bergman carved over 5000 decoys of the following species in the order of most common to rarest: mallard, pintail, teal, canvasback, widgeon, bluebill and whistler swan. During full production, he would produce about a dozen a week, most selling for $1.25 each. He also made at least a dozen teal cigarette/match boxes with hinged backs after 1935. Bergman’s most notable decoys were produced in the early 1900’s without Mason Factory influence. He carve a dozen magnificent whistler swans; unfortunately, his wife Hanna tired of tripping over them the birds on the back porch and chopped all of but three for firewood. The family dog then got a hold of two of the three remaining heads and took them under the house to chew. One survived and received a bill repair, leaving one still missing to date. Some of the swans may have been painted as geese, then repainted back into the swans we appreciate today.