Parker Bros. guns from the 1930's

[Bill Murphy]

The Charles Parker company supported the Parker gun business for most of the time the company was in business. The same situation existed when Remington bought in. The marketing plan was ridiculous from the beginning. VHE, 1935 retail $116.00, net $64.00. An examination of the order books will show discounts of 10%, 5%, 2%, piled one on top of the other for good customers, not even neccesarily volume customers. The jobbers and retailers made more than the company and they didn't have to build and promote the product. Remington had no idea what they were getting into. It didn't matter where the cost of the gun came from, the labor and materials or the company. The result was the same. Whether the cost of the gun came from the company or the "actual" cost of labor and materials, it was still more than they got from the jobbers. The more guns they made, the bigger the loss, not the other way around.