Invincibles
 

I find the provenance/history of high grade American doubles fascinating. Anyone know which issues of DGJ, Parker Pages or these forums discuss the rediscovery, provenance of the 3 Invincibles?

I looked in the Parker Pages index and there are 4 articles that reference the invincible. You can go to the index and do a simple search to find them. FYI - My browser allows searching for text on a page if I press the ctrl and f keys simultaneously, then enter invincible in the text box that pops up; yours probably has the same function.

Some of the most detailed descriitions of the repair and restoration of the "lost" Invincible (the one owned by publisher Henry Lyman) are contained in the Butterfield's Auction description of the gun as it was presented for sale, and the issue of Shooting Sportsman magazine just prior to the sale, within which the true story of the broken stock and subsequent pathway of repair and restoration are enumerated. These two brief vignettes dispel forever all but a wisp of the wind, smoke, and outright BS connected with the "last" of these fabulous guns.

In Parker Pages volume 8, issue 6, 2001 the article written by Roger Lake does a nice job documenting the last invincible to go on the auction block. Roger worked at the auction house and had lots of detail in his article. A good read!

Dietrich Apel wrote quite an interesting article on #200,000, which he had much to do with. I can't remember where the article appeared.

Shooting Sportsman Volume XII Issue V, September/October 2000, has a great article by Roger Lake called "The 'Lost' Invincible". It tells the full story of #233565, the gun and its restoration with pictures, copies of correspondence between Dr .Lyman and Parker Bros., the original work order and even copies of the hanging tags and detail of the restoration by Del Grego. Interesting, they expected the gun to sell for $150 to $200,000 at auction.

I was in error when I indicated Dietrich Apel wrote an article on #200,000. His article and knowledge is of the 16 gauge Invincible. Some day, one of our posters may write the story of #200,000 and its whereabouts for so many years when it was "lost".

Bill :

I do not know if this will help, but upon the death of Austin Hogan , Pam Hogan gave me two pictures of Invincible S/N 230329 that Dietrich Apel had given Austin. There was a note attached to the back of the photos that stated that this Invincible was purchased by a person named George Ford from Paul Jaeger in Jenkintown, PA.

After the purchase Mr. Ford found out the value of the gun and purchased Christmas presents for both Dietrich and Paul . A comprehensive story was written by Austin and appeared in the PGCA Journal vol. 15 spring 2008.

Allan

The story of Invincible 230329 was written up by Dick Baldwin in the May 1971 issue of Guns & Ammo. I first saw that gun when it was displayed, I think by Gary Herman, at the 1970 NRA convention.

How did Robt Petersen manage to get a hold of all 3 ?

You would have to visit the Petersen Room at the National Firearms Museum to answer that question for yourself. Robert Petersen had an over the top taste for fine sporting arms and the money to pursue his desire. I believe he bought them outright from Tony Galazan, displayed them on loan at the NFM for a few years, after which they were donated.

Parker Invincibles SN 230329 amd SN 200,000, were both acquired by Robert Petersen through private sale. When Invincible SN 233565 surfaced and underwent repair/restoration, it was auctioned by Butterfield's of San Francisco and was purchased by proxy bid for Robert Petersen, uniting all three of the iconic guns.

Do not forget that Tony Galazan had a hand in the sale to Peterson. Also, Tony had a picture that he made up of all three Invinciblesthat he sold copies of

I believe Tony owned, or had control of, all three when he created the poster. However, I may have assumed wrong.

I don't know if it's permissible to have copies of these articles sent to me for the archives. They wouldn't be published just kept for the records. If it's OK, can you guys that have these articles, copy them and send them to me?

I do not recall exactly, but Sheldon Gitman of Pottsville, PA had something to do with the Invincibles. I also recall that he may have owned at least two of them . My friend Rich Frutchy photographed them ,I do not recall the reason

The three known Invincibles at the 2014 PGCA Annual Meeting at the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, VA.




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I will see what I can find. I have the Shooting Sportsman issue and I will give them a call and see if we can get a back issue, if not I will make copies. A copy would be good because there was also a page on other Parkers to be in the same auction with 233565: A prototype A-1 Special called a Cornucopia Parker, The Green Guns - a set of BHE guns in 12 and 28 gauge with a set of interchangeable barrels in 20 and .410 gauge and an AHE presented by Parker Bros. as first prize at the Meriden Club Shoot in 1913.
The article itself describes in detail all the changes that were built into the Invincible, really interesting. Also, there is a neat article entitled "The Parker Market: What's Hot, What's Not.
Most of this may be common info. to many of you but I grew up in the second largest county in Tennessee, there were three Parkers known in the county. The county judge owned one, the local hardware store owner had a V grade and an old man had a long barrel hammer, muzzle loader, mention of a Parker was big stuff. So, as a late in life first time owner, I have read everything Parker I could find before ever owning one.
You guys in the North are super blessed with access so when I returned to active duty in 2000 in the D.C. area, I worked extra, hit the Dulles show and finally acquired my first Parker. So, needless to say I really enjoy this forum and hearing of your guns and exploits.

sounds like your county in tennesse had about as many parkers in it as was mycounty itawambia miss...i never seen a parker till i was 45 years old...i seen lc smith and fox and ithaca seven in my early years...i figure that people on cotton farms just did not have the money to buy parkers i bet your county was in the same shape...charlie

Yea, owning a high dollar shotgun was not way up on the list of priorities but everyone in the family hunted and we had mothers and granmothers who could make a rabbit or a squirrel taste better than steak, especially when you layered on the biscuits and gravy. We may have been poor but no one knew it. Just like coming in out of the snow after cutting firewood all day and sitting down to a plate of white beans, corn bread and buttermilk. You thought you were rich if no one told you any different. And when you counted up what really mattered at the time, we were rich.

Charlie, One other thing I finally found from your part of the country was a high grade Greener that was given to an old gentleman's grandfather who had worked on a plantation. He worked on a garbage truck in Memphis and it took me 3 years to finally find him. It was for real a high grade Greener in pretty good shape except that the old man had cut about 15 inches off the barrels, said he couldn't hit a rabbit with it to save himself, so, he fixed it!

I wish, in so many ways, that we could go back.

I know what you mean, but those times taught us to work hard and appreciate today. We will live and die with those good times memories and work to create the good days for our families today. I miss the pop of my Grandads little .410 bolt action. Always one pop and you knew another swamp rabbit was in the bag and away the beagles would go again. They made it through the depression and taught us well. The hardest lick I can remember as a child was from that same Grandfather. I was about 8 and carrying a quart jar of green beans and dropped it. I felt that backhand and it almost knocked me off my feet. No one said a word until we were on the way home and my Father said, "Son, do you know why he hit you?" and I said no. Daddy said, because you wasted food. Well, it was a tough love but I darn sure didn't drop food again. Good times!

Shelly Gitman owned both Invincibles for quite a few years prior to the Lyman gun coming onto the market after being repaired/restored in 2000. in late October of 1995, Shelly asked me to accompany him to Del Grego's to take 31 guns from his collection, including the two Invincibles, to have the guns photographed for The Parker Story. Del Grego closed his shop for three days while we took those photos.

Rich Frutchy was a former White House photographer (I believe under President Ford) and acted as the official photographer for the Del Grego sessions. Once our sessions were completed, other exemplary Parkers were photographed by various individuals in different locations. All of these efforts came together in final form with the publication of The Parker Story.

My good friend Shelly Gitman died in May of 2013.

Once all the information is gathered, it would be great to see the story of all three Invincibles in the Parker Pages. I have read that one of them was offered on a trade in California years ago but the person wasn't interested. Just like the Czar Parker, the rumors and stories are numerous. I also read that one of them was owned by a wealthy gentleman in the Northeast who put it on a closet shelf in a bedroom. He passed away and later his wife sold the mansion and the new owner found the gun, in the case, still lying on the upper shelf. Got to be some great stories from these three guns. I still wonder about the guy who advertised in Double Gun Journal wanting to buy a 20 gauge Invincible for some time??? Was he just fishing or smoking some bad stuff or did he know something we didn't. Good chance he is reading this, Ha! Could there be a fourth one out there?

I hope the complete & true stories of all 3 from their beginnings to Petersen Gallery can be gathered, written up, published in Parker Pages or DGJ. Fascinating.

Reread the earlier posts in this thread and you'll find pretty much all that's factually worth knowing about the Invincibles.

The conundrum of the Czar's Parker is a perfect example of creative/revisionist history which resulted in a popular mystery (e.g., "where is it and who has it?) that became self-perpetuating until records and documentation burst the bubble, so to speak.

The "wealthy gentleman from the Northeast" who shelved #230329 was A.C. Middleton, President of the Victor Talking Machine Co. The storage on the "slanted shelf" and subsequent disposition of the gun is well documented in TPS,

The individual advertising to buy a 20-gauge Invincible reminds me of a similar character who called me up in the middle of the night (literally) to tell me that he had found an Amish farmer who owned a (the) 4th Invincible and didn't know what to do with it.

"If you wait by the window long enough, they all come by."
- Lyn Nofziger, Press Secretary to President Ronald Reagan

I am no expert but I am aware that there are some knowledgeable collectors who contend that there are some Grade 8 guns that are every bit as finely done as the known Invincibles. Just keep an open mind.

But the 20ga Invincibles are probably better.

No question about that!

I'm certainly no expert either and I don't have access to the references above, the reasons I asked. Some of the A & AA grades shown in Parker Story look about as good as the Invincibles too. I have a Spanish double that comes pretty damn close too.

Saying that there may be some Grade-8 Parkers that would compare favorably with the Invincibles in no way detracts from the "finest Parkers ever made" but would elevate the quality of the artistry and craftsmanship of such a Grade-8 to that of the Grade-9, Invincible.

I always thought it odd that the way Henry Lymans initial were engraved didn't appear to be of very high quality. Any comments on that?

Shelly Gitman was a very private person regarding his Parkers. Those who knew that he owned the two Invincibles and how he got them agreed in their own minds to keep his story under wraps until his death. Shelly never asked anyone to keep quiet, but he only shared his secrets with those he trusted to be gentlemen. He must have been a good judge of character, because none of this information made it into print until today. Now that Shelly is gone, someone may tell his story and the stories of the Invincibles.

Threads like this are the reason I became a life member. I could read this stuff all day. Thanks to all the previous posters for the fascinating info.

This not-in-the-best-focus shot shows Shelly on the left holding Invincible #200000 and myself on the right holding the Middleton gun, SN 230329 after the photo shoot at Del Grego's.

Kevin, what time frame did Shelly own these guns?

Chuck, I first met Shelly shooting bunker (Olympic Trap) in 1990. At that time he had owned them for several years. Come see me next weekend at the Old Baltimore Show and I'll share lots more with you.

In my opinion, Kevin should hold the information on my friend Shelly Gitman until he has compiled a proper work on this history. Shelly Gitman is not the beginning of the Invincible story. Kevin and others will bring this to the surface when the time is right.

Gary Herman bought it from Mrs. Ford
I just got a copy of the Guns & Ammo, on ebay, and gave it to a special PGCA member.
Not everything in this thread is quite correct.
Chuck, check your in-box.

Edgar, no current story about the Invincibles will be agreed on by all parties. You and I have had discussions about this before and came away not quite agreeing. However, when the whole story is told, maybe we will all be in agreement.