Clark Gable and his love affair with long legged (Parker) Ladies

[Josh Loewensteiner]

I recently came across a very cool Parker with great provenance. Reportedly the gun belonged to Clark Gable. It is a 201k SN BHE 28ga, late 0 Frame, with original 32" Acme barrels, Parker SST, Beavertail forend and original 15" LOP. Many people would call this a "dream gun."

[Bill Holcombe]

Beautiful gun, been a fan of Clark Gable's since I first saw Gone with the Wind. Just curious, you say reportedly ordered by him, does this mean family legend or is there something attaching it to Mr. Gable more concretely?

Its a beautiful gun regardless, just interested in what the connection is?

[Randy G Roberts]

Wow ! Just incredible. Curious about the butt treatment, what is it ?

[Josh Loewensteiner]

Here are a few additional views of the gun. There is a 2002 dated letter with the gun that gives the provenance/collection history.

[Dean Romig]

Patterned by request with #6 shot makes it a duck & pheasant gun I would think.





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[Bill Holcombe]

Patterned by request with #6 shot makes it a duck & pheasant gun I would think.





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Which of course means quailon the floor plate.

Gorgeous gun and love those quail.

[Dave Noreen]

Back at one of the Vintage Cups at Sandanona, when Kevin McCormack and I were manning the PGCA booth, this 32-inch BHE 20-gauge attributed to Clark Gable was brought in and shown around.

63756

63757

After everyone fondled it, the crowd began to wander off and pretty soon I was left alone there holding it for about an hour!! If I recorded the serial number, the piece of paper with that info hasn't survived. These two pictures that Kevin took and memories are all that I have. As I recall the trigger plate was engraved with a big shaggy English Sheep Dog?!?

[John Campbell]

If Parker records/"the letter" show it was ordered by Gable, then it's a real find!

But "frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

It's a beautiful Parker as it stands!

[Reggie Bishop]

Clark must have not been the man I thought he was. Recoil pad on a 28 gauge! But it is a super nice Parker!

[Dave Noreen]

When that 28-gauge was shipped in June 1923, William Clark Gable was 22 years old and working all kinds of jobs from a necktie salesman at Meier & Frank in Portland, Oregon, to logging. Don't believe he was making BHE-Grade money at that time. He didn't go to Hollywood until 1924.

[Rich Anderson]

It would make a fine companion to my BHE 20. What a clays gun this would be. I can see the ink balls now:rotf:

[Jerry Harlow]

One would think somewhere along the line the hinge pin screw head would be put back on the correct side on the 20 gauge?

[Bill Murphy]

Amazing how facts of date of manufacture versus date of serious gun buying income of the owner often eliminate a gun from its imagined provenance.

[Dean Romig]

Of course this is not to say he could not have owned it at one time but only that he was not the original owner.





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[Drew Hause]

Gable also had a DHE given him by Joan Bennett, and a VR A-1 Special purchased at the New York Sportsman's Show, from the Remington rep Cliff Baldwin, after the NYC premier of Gone With the Wind Dec. 19, 1939. He later gave the A-1 to Gary Cooper.

This could be his 32" 20g?

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/408907623.jpg

Oct. 1955 "Guns" Magazine. 20g with a BTFE & cheekpiece??

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/412687445.jpg

Gable and Cooper at Sun Valley. Parker A-1 Special leaning against car. Gable with a straight stock 20g?

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/412687752.jpg

[Rich Anderson]

Last year at Puglisi's I saw a CHE 20 toe barrel set that was reputed to belong to Mr. Gable.

[Drew Hause]

Here you go Rich
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13455

[David Lien]

Josh
Thanks for the photos of the long barreled BHE 28 Ga. Parker with Gable's name attached to it. You are correct many of us would like to own that gun, or maybe just shoot it a few times. Clark Gable liked shotguns and shotgun hunting, and he had excellent taste in his guns.

I do wonder if someone may have some uncirculated photos of Clark Gable shooting this gun, or one of his other small bore Parkers?? He was popular and he did hunt and shoot a lot. Sometimes a photo of the gun in the hands of a shooter can settle a some questions.

I think we may have a couple of B Grade Parkers, "but no 28 Ga. 32 inchers."
For me- The B grade always held some sort of mystique. David

[Josh Loewensteiner]

The provenance letter states that he owned the gun, but does not say he ordered it new. Either way, the gun is exceedingly rare and interesting- and very pretty to boot.

[Drew Hause]

David: it would be incredibly painful, but a trip to the L.A. public library would likely be fruitful.
There were lots of Hollywood magazine in that era: Motion Picture, Modern Screen, Screen Guide, Picture Life, Movie Mirror, Movie Story, Movie Classics; and guns, shooting, and hunting were acceptable pastimes for Hollywood stars

Carole Lombard

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/413957373.jpg

"Skeet shooting is Hollywood's newest rage..."

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/413672172.jpg

Gable and John Barrymore in the Hollywood Hills

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/391785140.jpg

[John Campbell]

[QUOTE=Drew Hause;248719]... guns, shooting, and hunting were acceptable pastimes for Hollywood stars...


Were that only to be true TODAY! Another reason why I find myself watching TCM more and more...

[Drew Hause]

Another likely source, and only $14.25
Clark Gable, in Pictures : Candid Images of the Actor's Life by Chrystopher J. Spicer

https://www.ebay.com/p/Clark-Gable-in-Pictures-Candid-Images-of-the-Actors-Life-by-Chrystopher-J-Spicer-2011-Hardcover/102913077?iid=142869173320&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%2 6asc%3D52474%26meid%3Dcfc1249870984dc3a9ee2b87be7d b8c2%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D3%26sd%3D1830 55163241%26itm%3D142869173320&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Clark Gable was from Cadiz, Ohio, just 30 min from my office. I used to shoot alot of grouse around Cadiz.

[Drew Hause]

Is it true that one of his Parkers is in the Clark Gable Museum in Cadiz? And which one?
http://www.clarkgablefoundation.com/museum-tour-info.html

[Drew Hause]

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/ANTIQUE-DUCK-HUNTING-REPRO-8X10-PHOTO-ACTOR-CLARK-GABLE-PARKER-BROS-SHOTGUN-/163139371447?hash=item25fbdd41b7

http://dearmrgable.com/?p=12051

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162736370150

[Daryl Corona]

Clark Gable was from Cadiz, Ohio, just 30 min from my office. I used to shoot alot of grouse around Cadiz.

Did you ever run into him in the coverts of Cadiz?:)

[Victor Wasylyna]

Did it (would it have) come with that drab recoil pad?

-Victor

[Harold Lee Pickens]

I have never been in the Clark Gable museum. No Daryl, never ran into him in the woods, but you know us grouse hunters are a secretive bunch. Come to think of it , I ran into a handsome fellow who looked a lot like Clark years back, but he told me his name was Rich Anderson, or something similar to that.

[John Davis]

"I ran into a handsome fellow who looked a lot like Clark years back, but he told me his name was Rich Anderson, or something similar to that."

Now that's funny.