Ithaca Trap

[jeffery c]

Researcher, thanks! So that averages about 20 a year through the 70s. That makes a late gun pretty tough to find. Do you happen to have a price sheet? Was the late engraving in the original Ithaca style? My recollection is the catalog depicted fancy engraved guns only with gold birds and figured wood. Was it 5E only or did they offer other grades?

[Researcher]

The Last No. 4E was 240405695 in late 1976 early 1977. From then to end of production the only offered the No. 5E and the Dollar Grades -- first $5000, the $6500 and finally with the Jimmy Carter inflation just Dollar Grade.

From some of my old catalogs --

1959-60 --

No. 4E $525
No. 5E $675
No. 7E $1750
$2500 Grade

1963 same

1966 --

No. 4E
No. 5E
$3000 Grade
Neither of the price lists with this catalog give Knick prices. My 1967 price list says "Custom Made, write for prices."

1972 Catalog --

No. 4E $1750
No. 5E $2500
$4500 Grade

1974 Catalog --

No. 4E $2250
No. 5E $3000
$5000 Grade

1975 Catalog --

No. 4E $2500
No. 5E $3500
$5000 Grade

1976 Catalog --

No. 4E $3000
No. 5E $4000
$5000 Grade

1977 Catalog --

No. 5E $4000
$5000 Grade

1979 Catalog --

No. 5E $5000
$6500 Grade

I suspect from here on they weren't actually accepting any orders. Just like Ithaca Gun Co., Inc. kept showing the NID in their catalogs to 1955 though the last they made were in 1948.

December 1, 1984 Price List --

No. 5E $7000
Dollar Grade $9700

December 1, 1985 Price List --

No. 5E $7000
Dollar Grade $9700

1988 Catalog --

Devotes a page and a half to the No. 5E and Dollar Grade but doesn't give prices.

[jeffery c]

I am probably remembering that 1977 or 1978 catalog, Researcher. I remember looking through it with such fond memories.
I wonder, I bet Ithaca would have made the guns, or so I hope in the 48-55 and 83-88 periods? Maybe not a single person ordered them then? They were really expensive for a working person and I suppose wealthy people at that point were moving past being interested in hunting, fishing, and shooting. Lastly, thanks for the chart, it's interesting to see the change from the early sixties to the early seventies, over three times the cost!

[Bill Murphy]

The last small group of Knicks was built for and sold by Bill Jaqua if I remember correctly. Catalog listing and actual production is sometimes miles apart. Recently, a $5000 grade was sold at one of the bigger auctions for a very low price. I never did look at the listing or the pictures to see if I missed "something".

[Big D]

Bill Jaqua was a very creative marketer.

What ever became of the "Little Persuader" which he bought at auction and was featured on the front page of the WSJ? That article legitimized gun purchases as an acceptable investment alternative. My understanding is that he sold that gun shortly after buying it for about a 25% premium. And what about the matched sets of English Best Guns he commissioned with the elaborate display cases?

[George "Scott" Davis]

Just received email the first batch of Ithaca Letters are going out by the end of the year from the Cody Museum. I've requested letter on a very early SBT.

[Bill Murphy]

A sign of the times is comparing Bill Jaqua's little collection of small bore Purdeys with the dozens of small bore Purdeys that Robert Petersen threw on the market when he passed away. "What's up with that?"

[George "Scott" Davis]

Received my Ithaca Letter from the Cody Museum:

Ithaca SBT was shipped on June 10, 1910 to C. T. Summerson at Nixon Hotel, Butler Pennsylvania.

I'll do research on C. T. Summerson tomorrow.

[Researcher]

That date doesn't sound right. I was under the impression the Ithaca SBT came out in 1915.

[George "Scott" Davis]

I reviewed the letter and it say 1910.