Parker with gold Inlay
 

I have an unusual Parker 'D' grade 20 gauge made in 1917 with 'Parker Bros' inlayed in Gold on the bottom of the receiver. I understand that it is the only 'D' grade gun made with a gold inlay. It 'letters' with the gold inlay and was made as a gift from Parker Bros to E.I Dupont for use at his trap shooting school at Young's Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There's a name and number stamped into the receiver - "F.B. Potts. No. 717". You can see it in the photo directly under the gold inlay. The stamping is crude... not factory. Maybe it was done at Dupont's trap shooting school. Does anyone have any idea what the name and number might signify? Thanks, Chris

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker003.jpg
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker011.jpg

Not being from the east and never having been to Atlantic City, I had never heard of Young's Million Dollar Pier and did not know that Dupont had trap shooting schools. After reading your post, I searched the internet and learned about these matters. Thanks for the post that broadened my knowledge.

I know nothing about Potts, however we have a few people here who are devotees of the history of trap shooting and if anyone would know, they will.

Interesting gun. Gold on a Parker is rare, rare, most being aftermarket added.

No hits in the Sporting Life archives which end about 1915, and not mentioned here in 1910
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL5514025.pdf

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../389761441.jpg

Chris,
Both myself and fellow PGCA member Bill Murphy have done some past research on the Dupont Powders Atlantic City trap shooting school at the end of Young's pier... I'm just just curious, is there any mention in your Parker letter of "Jack Fanning" or "Lou Parker"?...

I wonder if perhaps your gun was intended as a promotional prize/trophy, or maybe it was just good advertising by Parker Bros to gift a gun for use at the Dupont school so the Parker name (in-Gold) could be noticed at a high traffic venue of amateur shooting sports... Smart marketing, sell more guns... There were a lot of women who shot at the end of Young's Pier during that time period, and given the smaller gauge of the 20-bore mentioned here, I would not be surprised to find out that "F. B. Potts" was actually a young lady shooter...

You have a very interesting Parker Chris, what are some of the overall dimensions of your gun, barrel length, stock, frame size, and do you have more photos with a better close-up of the "F.B. Potts. 717" area?...

Best, CSL
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Gold inlay or not, that is a very pretty script used to write 'Parker Bros'.

I don't see how you can qualify the 'only D grade made with gold inlay' claim. Maybe you can say ' the only D Grade known to me with gold inlay'.

So, you have a PGCA letter? Can you post a scan of the letter? In my files I have a copy of an order for a 20 gauge Dupont Shooting School gun. I wonder if the serial number matches your gun? What is your number? I also know of a nice Dupont Shooting School 12 gauge. Maybe Chris Lein would post a picture of it. I believe he has a picture in his collection.

I think this Parker belongs in the "Parkers Found."

Could we see more of the gun?

Chris, Chris, maybe you all and Bill could do a Parker Pages article on the subject with photos of some of the guns used?

Some Jack Fanning infro here, with a pic of he and Neaf Apgar courtesy of Chris. A flinch ended his career as a competitor.
https://docs.google.com/View?id=dfg2hmx7_319dj27s2ch

I appreciate all the responses to my question. I'll try to get a better picture of the stampings and a scan of the letter later today and post them. Here's a photo of the letter. I think you will be able to read it.
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker028.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker001.jpg
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker009.jpg
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker023.jpg
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/t.../Parker013.jpg

Sorry, Bruce, but I was in the middle of the research project when I needed some minor access to the PGCA research collection. The board of directors and the research committee refused that access and the project ended. Maybe Chris Lien and I will prepare an article for the Double Gun Journal. I'm sure most of our members are subscribers to that publication. Thanks for asking, though.

Bill, a DGJ article would be great also.

Art Wheaton has a great article in this quarter's Double Gun Journal that involved research into the PGCA records, and he thanks Mark Conrad for his help. Did you ask Mark to check the records for you? I know that whenever I have asked Mark for assistance, he has been more than helpful.

There is another Parker article this quarter about a C grade with nice and unusual engraving. I don't believe that author is a PGCA member .....he would have been aided by seeing some of the deep cut and rondel engraving C's we have pictured here over the years and shown at exhibits.

We consistently have great Parker articles in the Parker Pages and the DGJ, and I'm glad you and Chris will be doing an article......it all helps Parker collecting.

Bruce Day, Parker novice and so much to learn

Bruce, as much as you enjoy stirring the pot if it does not affect your close personal contacts, Mark Conrad has nothing to do with the situation I describe about being denied access to the PGCA research collection to prepare articles for the Parker Pages. Mark Conrad has been more than helpful to me in my research. It is other PGCA powers that have been behind the denial of access to research material.

I'm not stirring your pot or anyone else's. I don't know and don't care what got you crosswise with the board, nor is it any of my business. All I know is that the PGCA research has been great for me and they have been very accomodating . I'm very pleased that you will write a DGJ article, all this about the Million Dollar Pier and the Dupont Shooting Schools is new to me, and I look forward to reading the article.

Just take my post at face value. No agenda other than encouraging great Parker articles.

Chris, This is a wonderful and very interesting Parker. Thank you for sharing this gun with us.

Chris that is a beautiful and desirable gun. Congratulations and thanks for posting it here.

Best,

Mike

Yup, it is about the rarest of the rare, a gold inlaid gun with factory documentation and important provenance.

That for end looks different to me, sort of a semi-BT. And the checkering is different. Is it aftermarket or some strange Parker variant?

No question of it being a presentation or display Parker with that wood. You'll likely never see another Grade 3 Parker with that quality wood.

"The World of Parkerdom"
 

I was checking my files on past material concerning the Dupont shooting facility at Young's pier and came across an old e-mail from Murphy back in November of 2006... Bill and I were discussing Parker Dupont Try-Guns, and he also mentioned what I believe is the same 20ga DHE shown to us in this thread... Bill said he had never actually seen the gun, but he thought it had been sent to the Dupont shooting school at the end of Young's pier... I remember thinking the chances of seeing a DH 20ga with a gold scripted Parker Bros bottom frame surfacing anytime soon were probably pretty slim, but now 5 years later here it is... This is what keeps things interesting in the world of "Parkerdom", you never know what you might see or find from day to day... I'm an avid researcher and long time collector of early live bird and trap shooting history, and also enjoy interesting old double gun provenance... This is a very unique Parker and it would be a fun gun to research, I hope Chris Davis can provide us with some additional larger photos for a better overall look... Like we sometimes say, if only this gun could talk and tell it's story, imagine the many adventures in might reveal... Part of solving this mystery will be to figure out the identity of "F.B. Potts" and the significance of "#717"... I've been looking, has anyone else found anything, Dave Noreen, Murphy, Drew?...

Best, CSL
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http://www.webpak.net/~cslien/1DupontTrapScoreSheet.jpg
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Long way from Missoula to Young's Pier, and 'POTT', not Potts, but interesting
http://web.mac.com/robertdotson/iWeb...nz%20Pott.html
There is definitely a 's' engraved?
Could #717 be a fly pattern?

There was a "Frederick Potts" who shot trap & live birds in the New Jersey area, and at the Lakewood country club during that early time period... This would be fairly close to the Dupont shooting school at the end of Young's Pier... Looks like this fella also competed against the well known Parker shooter Capt Money... Perhaps there is a connection here between this "F. Potts" and the "F.B. Potts" on the 20ga DHE Dupont Parker???... The shooting history and close proximity to Atlantic City is certainly there.

This from 1901... http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...DA405B818CF1D3

Best, CSL
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Chris, wonder who the manager of the Dupont School would be? Might there be records to check the Dupont employees?

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Not sure if there are surviving Dupont Powders records from that far back (almost a 100 years)... I do know the man in charge of the school at it's inception in early 1916 was Henry "Hank" Stevens, a professional shooter and former factory rep for Remington... Hank was also known as one of the best shooting instructors around... Hank's assistant in the new Dupont Powders shooting school venture was Hayes Apgar, son of well known professional shooter Neaf Apgar... Hank Stevens is shown at left in the photo below, middle is Jack Fanning a Dupont rep, and at right is Neaf Apgar a rep for the Peters Cartridge Co... These three men were all well known and respected shooters of their day...

Best, CSL
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http://www.webpak.net/~cslien/1StevensFanningA.jpg
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In my records I have the names of some of the "wheels" at the Dupont Shooting School. I'll try to locate the names. By the way, the Frederick A. Potts from Lakewood only shot registered Interstate Association or American Trapshooting Association targets in one year between 1913 and 1922, the years that the School may have been active. That year was 1916. He was referred to as middle initial A in the 1916 average book, so I guess he is not the guy whose name is engraved on the gun. I think I mentioned earlier that there are at least two D Grade 20s sent to the School. The School was mentioned in early publications as using 20 gauge guns exclusively. The School try guns, however, seemed to be 12 gauges, at least the ones I have seen. At least one is a Parker GH Grade and at least one is an Ithaca single, both try stocks made by Arthur P. Curtis. The Parker ended up with Colonel Townsend Whelen and was used by stockmakers in his gun store in Washington, D.C. until the store closed. Walt Snyder probably knows which of the Flues Ithaca single barrel Curtis try guns were sent to Dupont. I have the impression that there are more than one Curtis Ithaca out there, but I don't know which ones were sent to Dupont for use at the School.

Neaf and Hank 1913. Hank now shooting a Remington pump
http://www.la84foundation.org/Sports.../SL6104017.PDF

Another 20 gauge Dupont Shooting School gun is #172,459, a VH Grade ordered in 1916. It had (or has) "The Parker Gun" in white letters. The GH Curtis try gun, mentioned in The Parker Story, is #158,664, ordered New Years Eve 1914, in time for the opening of the School, as I recall. No brand identification was placed on that gun.

The Dupont Try-Guns...
 

The more I've studied and researched the early Dupont related "Try-Guns" the more it seems they had less to do with the Dupont Shooting School at the end of Youngs Pier, and more to do with being on the road with a select group of Dupont Powders factory reps touring as many gun clubs as possible in their respective territories... I'm also inclined to think there may have been more than one Curtis equipped Parker Try-Gun, but only the person in charge of the Parker records would know for sure... From what I've been able to find in my research, Jack Fanning was initially going to be in charge of the Atlantic City shooting school, but for whatever reasons, Hank Stevens assumed that Dupont position at Youngs Pier in early 1916... Fanning went on the road with his Try-Gun, which was probably the best way for Dupont to utilize a man of his skills and celebrity shooting status...

I have always suspected there was a great untapped story with the relationship between Parker Bros and Dupont Powders... I believe (head Parker store guy) Louis Parker and Jack Fanning were probably good pals. And who better to grease with gun favors (like a gratis Parker Try-Gun) than "Jack", an aging pro-shooter and respected shooting instructor who could recommend Parker Bros guns to people at gun clubs all day long... This would be like having Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth hanging out at the ball park telling kids what brand of baseball bats and gloves to buy... A sure thing, money in the bank...

Murph had mentioned an Ithaca single Curtis modified Try-Gun, which may well be the gun that Jack Fanning is sharing with other Dupont reps in the 1915 image below. Also looks like there is another single Try-Gun leaning against the table behind them...

Best, CSL
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http://www.webpak.net/~cslien/1FanningTryGun1915C.jpg
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Chris: I scanned these images from the August, 1926 National Sportsman article by Fanning "Technique of Trapshooting"
It is similar, but longer, than "Trapshooting Hints by Jack Fanning" which appeared in Forest and Stream August, 1921 http://books.google.com/books?id=xUs...AJ&pg=PA356&dq

He looks to be in his 50s, and was shown shooting a Smith

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../381232258.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../381232255.jpg

The gun against the trap house may be a Remington pump, and that could be 'Hank' in the middle leaning over the try gun

Chris, This great research. Keep up the good work my friend. I find this stuff very interesting.

Thanks Dave,
I've gathered quite a bit of material on Jack Fanning and the Try-Guns over the past few years, and it remains a work in progress... I've also been lucky in collecting some great early Dupont Powders items in my travels, and hope to put it all together for a good read in the future...

Best, CSL
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Really looking forward to seeing it Chris as I know you have been hard at work on this for awhile now...

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Drew that's a good one, I remember running across that article a few years ago, Murph and I were debating over whether or not that was a Smith he is holding... The straight on image you posted of Jack's mug looking directly at the camera was a rare occurrence, as he had this thing about always turning away for a profile shot in photos... Of the 7 or 8 original old photos I have of Fanning at gun clubs and other shooting events, most folks are looking straight ahead, and Jack is looking sideways in all of them...

Best, CSL
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You've no doubt seen this DuPont trade card Chris: Jack Fanning, Tom Marshall, Fred Gilbert, Rolla Heikes and J.A.R. Elliott and all look to be 'seniors'
Elliott retired in 1912 to promote his "Elliott Ear Drum Protector" introduced in 1904

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../372160130.jpg

Chris, you probably have the same reference I do of the Dupont salesmen going on the road with try guns. I think you sent me a copy of the "Dupont Try Gun" article. However Parker GH #158,664 was actually specified to be for the Atlantic City Trapshooting School on the Parker Brothers order. It was to be sent directly to A.P. Curtis, then to Atlantic City. The school may have been promoting a certain brand of shotgun, but it wasn't just Parkers because the Ithacas were marked with big white letters on the stocks as was the Parker VH 20. I believe, as you do, that there were more than one Curtis Parker try gun, but I have never seen one other than #158,664.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../381232255.jpg

This is the only picture I can remember seeing of a famous shooter of that era using a glove on his barrel hand.

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Dean,
Go back and look at the photo I posted of Hank, Jack, and Neaph, all three men are wearing gloves, Apgar's is on his right hand as he was a left handed shooter... Gloves on hot barrels back in the day of high volume competition shooting with splinter forends was very common...

Best, CSL
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Bill,
I'm just curious, are you sure about a reference on the Parker Brothers order page to send #158,664 to the Atlantic City Trapshooting School after A.P. Curtis was done with it?... And are you sure it was 1914?...

Perhaps I miss read the Parker Brothers order page, but I did not see any reference to the Atlantic City Trapshooting School, and I thought the date was 1916...

Just want to make sure my information and time-lines are correct...

Best, CSL
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Thanks Chris - now I see the gloves. I guess I just never looked close enough at the pictures but the one I referenced is just so obvious, being such a large (and likely lined) glove.