Dave, I brought up pictures of Wagner's storefront on the computer, don't remember the site. Kevin has visited the store, but I have not. I assume he also has pictures. It exists today with modern style tenants, no gun stores in Southeast D.C. any more. There is a quiver full of explanation for Uncle Billy Wagner's participation in the advent of smallbore popularity in Parker history. Proximity to the Eastern Shore, as Dave suggests, is one of them. However, William Wagner was in the middle of shotgun competition at the turn of the century and before and after. He was a high average trap shooter and surviving shooting papers document his participation in big shoots, including the Grand American. He was the A.W. DuBray of the Washington area, promoting Parkers at shoots on a regular basis. His success in the selling of Parker shotguns resulted in the gifting, from Parker Brothers, of a AAH Pigeon Gun. His discount structure in the order books is as good or better than Shoverling Daly and Gales, Tryon, and other big wholesale houses. He not only sold many 20 and 28 gauge guns, his orders include significant numbers of safetyless pigeon guns, including John Phillip Sousa's AAH safetyless 12 bore. By the way, "Uncle Billy" is not a loosely applied title by his researchers. He was referred to as "Uncle Billy" by the early writers in the gun papers that recorded shooting results. He was a prolific hunter of the Potomac River and Southern Maryland. His ability to sell the 28 gauge Parker when no one else was doing it had much to do with his proximity to the U.S. Capitol, just a short walk from his shop. The House and Senate must have been a real money tree to Wagner and helped to spread the little Parkers to all corners of the country.
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07-07-2010, 10:38 AM
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