George Lane
Thanks, Kevin.
Where can I learn more about him? He did custom upgraded checkering on two guns I have. He brought DHE checkering up to BHE and did a very nice job
George Lane joined Parker Bros. in 1901 as a checkerer and took a sort of 'leave of absence" (approved by his boss and Parker Bros.) in 1908 to investigate and perfect his skills in painting, photography and wood carving. He somehow engineered a job for 8 or 9 years as a personal chauffer to a widow to a bigwig with International Silver Co., which of course was centered in Meriden at the time. He apparently spent his idle time improving his craft at these three pursuits.
Around 1919 he returned to Parker Bros. and a few years after that took over as checkering contractor. Unfortunately for Remington, when they moved the Parker works to Ilion from Meriden around 1937, Lane did not accompany the move. When it became apparent after the move to Ilion that Remington needed a master checkerer (some engravers actually did the work from about 1938-1940), Lane fabricated a set of tools identical to his own used at Parker Bros. for use on the AA and A-1 Special grade guns and sent them to Ilion.
Bob Runge told me that when the "Lost Invincible" was restocked by the Del Gregos, they used some of George Lane's original checkering layouts to exactly duplicate the pattern and execution. Bob himself did the carvings.
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