The Parker and The Gentleman

[C.O.B.]

The Parker left Meridian Connecticut in 1931. It was a simple gun, a working mans gun. There was no fancy engraveing or pretty wood she was a VH 20 with 28 inch bbls. A gun meant for the fields and coverts, certainly no showpiece. Times were tough in 31 and Parker produced less than 300 guns that year.

The Gentleman lived in South Carolina. He came from a large family, 15 in all. They made their living off the land in and amongst the Long Leaf Pine, Bluestem Grasses and cotton fields. The gentleman asked for nothing but the ability to make an honest living and he and his immediate family were spread out over three counties. He stood his ground when confronted and didn't run or slink away. He had manners and class.

Although from different parts of the country both existed in a time when a man was proud to put his name on something he created, something that would stand the test of time. A time when a deal was sealed with a handshake, when the neighboors all chipped in to get the Cotton crop harvested, when if you wanted to dig a pond so the Mallards would have a place to raise their family and the kids had a place to swim an Enviromental Impact Statement wasn't required. A knock on a farm door got you permission to hunt and a few dressed birds given back to the landowner at the end of the day assured a return visit.

The Parker and The Gentleman had a common friend a Mr. James E. White of Jackson, Michigan. Mr. White was a stockbroke by trade as it was the only job he could think of that didn't require an 8 to 5 schedule every day, especially in the fall. He was known to enjoy the fruits of bootleg wiskey and games of chance. There was more than one occasion when the family lived on what was earned from a poker table. He would tell his daughter whom he called Squirt "If you can play cards and come away with what you started with than you had a good time and it didn't cost anything".

It was during a waterfowl hunt to Maryland's Eastern Shore when the Parker and James first met. He had stopped into a local hardware store to get some more 10ga shells for his L.C. Smith and saw her on the rack. The clerk stated the only drawback was it didn't have ejectors whence Mr. White replied "sure it does there your thumb and forfinger". "If a man can put the shells into it he can damn sure take em out".

Later that fall James and the Parker headed to South Carolina to meet with The Gentleman one B.W. Quail. Mr. White wouldn't shoot a covey down so there were always more brood stock for next year. After all Mr. Bob was a gentelman and deserved respect.

The Parkers still exist to instill both pleasure and a taste of nostalgia, Mr. White's decendants still enjoy a day afield with a fine double and a good pointer but the Gentelman is hanging by a thread in most of his old haunts.

I hope the three of us don't fall into the abyss of progress.

[TARNATION !!!]

Nice

[Kevin McCormack]

Forget all this nostalgical whimsey - I want to know what became of 'Squirt'. One of my NAOC Pensacola classmates dated an off-base babe who was a hell of a poker player. We called her "Squirt" too, but it had nothing to do with her stature.

[GH-16]

Great story and befitting to the evening after reading of John Manns passing over on the doublegun BBS.

Thanks for posting it!!

[C.O.B.]

"Squirt" is alive and well living in Michigan. She just turned 80 and still works about 30hrs a week in the same dental office as she has for probably 30 years. Squirt learned to tell one gun from another by the stocks when she was very young.

James E. White was my Grandfather and he was one hell of a trap shot. He broke 200 straight from 16yds in 1935 to winn the class C championship at the Detroit Gun Club. I still have the trophy. His favorite trap gun was a Parker and to hear mom tell the story in or close to 1948-9 he was on his way to Mayo Clinic and stopped off at Abercrombie & Fitch in Chicago and came home with a Parker trap gun. Mom said it was the A1 Special and she still remembers the fight her parents had because he spent $600 on a gun when they didn't have $600. They really did live off his poker winnings.

Unfortunatly Grampa died early in 1952, I came along in October of that year. Mom said he never shot that particular Parker as he had a stroke and passed two years later. It was his wish that the Parker go to a friend of his who otherwise couldn't afford it. All his guns were sold, given away etc. The only thigs I have of his are the trap trophy, a Marbles knife and a S&W M10 (5 screw) .38 spl and his love of Parkers and upland birds esp Mr. Bob White.

[MarketHunter]

Rich,

I think drinking Jack Daniels while reading too much Gene Hill is a bad idea. Hah!


Destry

[Kevin McCormack]

Rich; you are so fortunate to have this family shooting legacy! My male ancestors were all from in and around Philadelphia; my maternal grandfather was a successful real estate entrepreneur in the late 1920's and into the late 1930s when he died. My mother told me he bought a new car every two years to squire prospective clients around showing properties.

My uncles were all working class tradesmen and you would think they'd look forward to a weekend in the woods, but not a single one of them was the slightest bit interested in guns or shooting. Alternatively, they were all sports junkies for baseball, football and boxing. My grandfather and my mother's uncle financed and managed one of the first all-black baseball teams in PA; they were quite successful and went on the circuit just before the depression.

It kills me that these men were about a 25 minute drive from the Philadelphia Gun Club as well as no more than a 15-20 min. drive from the flyer ring in Choshohocken, not to mention an hour and a half from the Jersey coast and Barnegat Bay, yet none of them ever popped a cap! I stopped looking a long time ago for the CHE 28 ga. behind the pantry door, or the 12 ga. 32" Super Fox out in the wood shed behind the coal bin!

In a super-ironic twist of fate however, my mother's uncle, who was born and raised in Hartford, CT, was a metal polisher, finisher, and engraver, and worked for years for the International Silver Company in Meriden, so close to the Parker Bros. gunworks that they could walk to it on their lunch hour! Go figure....

[TARNATION !!!]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

... I stopped looking a long time ago for the CHE 28 ga. behind the pantry door, or the 12 ga. 32" Super Fox out in the wood shed behind the coal bin!....

Kevin: I recently learned on this very forum that even beyond those locations and the un-mentioned attics, it pays to check above the soffits.

Cheers,
Jack

[C.O.B.]

Destry I haven't read a Gene Hill story in years so if my rambelings remind of Gene I'll take that as a compliment. I won't comment on the Jack Daniels consumption however

[Jack Kuzepski]

Kevin,

I remember back in the 50's, going to family reunions in Newportville, PA. Before the reunion could start someone had to go the gun club right near the Burlington Bristol bridge and gather up the last of the family members from the trap range for the festivities. I would always ride along. Was that the Philadelphia gun Club?

Jack Kuzepski