Catalogs

January 1903 Abercrombie & Fitch Catalog.
Pre-WWI Hans Tauscher general catalogs.
1901-10 Ideal Holster and Stock Catalog.
Pre-1906 A.H. Funke Gun Catalog.
1906 Abercrombie & Fitch Catalog.
1912 Casimir Weber catalog.
1913 Francis Bannerman Catalog.
1914 MANUFACTURE FRANCAISE D’ARMES ET CYCLES
Circa WWI J.L. Galef general catalog.
1921 Gustav Genschow & Co. catalog #29.
1922 Pacific Arms Catalog.

1923 Luger Sales Catalog, 2 originals.
1923 106 and 1924 107 P.VON FRANTZIUS catalogs.
1924 Pacific Arms Catalog.
1925-6 Von Lengerke & Detmold Catalog.
1926 Schoverling, Daly & Gales Catalog.
1927-8 Von Lengerke & Detmold Catalog.
1930s Jenkins Corp. Catalog.
1931 Carlos Rasetti Catalog.
1933 Francis Bannerman Catalog.
1936 & 1937 Hudson Sporting Goods Catalog.
1937 Galef's Go Getters Catalog.

January 1903 Abercrombie & Fitch Catalog

	This is an extremely rare original January 1903 Abercrombie & Fitch Catalog, seldom found this early. It measures; 5" x 7" and has 160 pages. The front cover art work was done in 1902 as evidenced by the artists name and date in the lower right. Note the A&F logo posted on the tree. This store was the greatest of all the early sporting good dealers. This issue was the tenth year of this great company and additionally is the fist known Abercrombie & Fitch catalog to illustrate, feature and describe the Model 1900 commercial Luger in the production configuration as shown on page 149. Other contemporary period publications advertise the Old Model Luger using pre production 1899 Borchardt-Luger line drawings or engravings. For example, the May 1902 Shooting & Fishing Luger picture and the June 1902 Baker & Hamilton Luger envelope picture. Cartridges were advertised as rimless, Walsrode powder, $2.20 per 100 and either full metal jacket or soft point bullets of 50 round packaging at $1.10 as described on p.151. Also shown on the same page below the old model 1900 production Luger is an advertisement for the Ideal Holster and carbine stock. Since the A&F catalog publication date is January 1903 it is safe to say that the Ideal holster for the Luger was available as early as 1902.

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Pre-WWI Hans Tauscher general catalogs

	The Hans Tauscher catalog for high power rifles and automatic pistols. Shown are three pre-WWI Hans Tauscher catalogs. Apparently there are at least three variations, albeit minor, of this particular catalog. The front cover of the first version has no address or markings referring to Hans Tauscher. Click here to see more information on this catalog and Hans Tauscher. The second version features a three-line stamped street address only while the other catalog front cover has the full Hans Tauscher address with the statement “Sole Agent for the United States, Canada and Mexico”. All the catalogs have identical advertisements for the Luger and accessories along with advertisements for various Mauser Rifles. The catalog with the stamped address was obtained with an inserted 1-page Hans Tauscher pink flier advertising Haenel MANNLICHER Repeating Rifles. Per H. Tauscher correspondence¹ dated 7 July 1908 he was just appointed sole representative by Mr. C.G. Haenel of Suhl, Germany for the Haenel MANNLICHER Repeating Rifles, which dates these pre-WW1 Hans Tauscher catalogs to approximately 1908 or later and no earlier than 1906 as the catalogs feature the “New Model” Luger. ¹ Luger Holsters and Accessories of the 20th Century by U. Bender, Copyright 1992, p 39, John Pearson Collection.

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1901-10 Ideal Holster and Stock Catalog

Click on the image above to see a detailed article about the catalog.

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Pre-1906 A.H. Funke Gun Catalogue catalog

	Very little is known about the firm of A. H. FUNKE, except that it was an old time firearm exporter in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. They were agents for Mannlicher and also Scott Shotguns. They also imported Luger Pistols. The firms’ involvement or association with the Luger has been made clearer with the recent discovery and acquisition of an A.H. Funke Gun Catalogue, 325 Broadway, New York. The cover and first page are ink stamped with the address “83 Chambers Street,” which suggests that there had been a recent change of address from 325 Broadway to 83 Chambers Street. Perhaps the added ink stamps were a reminder to their customers. The catalog is pre World War 1, printed in the “Letter Press” process, and is probably pre 1910, as it features 1900 production old model Lugers and the Ideal stock rig. Judging by the prices and other items in the catalog, it appears contemporaneous to the Hans Tauscher general catalogs. The A.H. Funke firm’s association with the Luger is even earlier than 1910, as a recently publicized A.H. Funke Luger packaging box label¹ shows. Take note of an engraving of the Luger, which is a pre production 1899 Borchardt-Luger with bordered grips and prototype thin trigger. There is an interesting connection between the U.S. Army, Hans Tauscher and A.H. Funke. At the time of the Hans Tauscher request, he was the sole representative and sales representative assigned by DWM for the United States, Mexico and Canada; in other words he marketed and sold Lugers for profit. Tauscher was based in New York City. A.H. Funke was also a gun retailer located in New York City. Why did Tauscher instruct the U.S. Army to send fifty Lugers to the firm of A.H. Funke, a competitor? Why did not Tauscher tell the army to send the guns to his address so he could sell them? That, in essence, is the burning question. Could there have been an issue of impropriety with Tauscher, who was dealing contractually with the Army as a representative of DWM, selling DWM guns himself through his outlet/storefront? It seems that the exchange of 50 1900 U.S. Test Eagle Lugers with DWM for 50 1902 9mm Cartridge Counter Lugers was directed by Hans Tauscher in a letter dated 1904 to the United States Army Commanding Officer of Springfield Armory. The letter asks the Commanding Officer to ship 50 of the best condition 1900 U.S. Test Eagle Lugers to Mr. A.H. Funke of 83 Chambers Street, New York.² This arrangement with A.H. Funke seems odd if we are to assume that Hans Tauscher was the “sole (sales) agent” for DWM. Despite this information, the firm of A. H. Funke could have been the first retailer to sell off 50 of the 1000 1900 Test Eagle Lugers, preceeding the firm of Francis Bannerman, which in approximately1910, purchased 780 1900 U.S. Test Eagle Lugers and holsters from the United States Army at public auction. ¹ Rock Island Auction Catalog, April 2004, p.173. ² U.S. Military Automatic Pistols 1894 – 1920, Copyright ©1993 by Edward Scott Meadows, p 378.

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1906 Abercrombie & Fitch catalog

	Featured above is an original 1906 Abercrombie & Fitch catalog published May 1906. Page 183 of the catalog shows an old model 30 cal Luger. A complementary comment is found on page 162 that rates the Luger as the best of "type." An interesting technical “write up” on page 183 describes the 30 cal. Luger pistol and carbine and the 9mm (.354) caliber Luger pistol. It is interesting to note that the American Eagle chamber crest is not present on the pictured Luger nor mentioned in the text. Page 191 lists the 30 cal bottle neck rounds for the C96 Mauser, the C93 Borchardt and the Luger. Curiously, it has no listing for the 9mm Luger round even though the catalog has an intro page dated May 1, 1906. Possibly, the new model commercial Lugers were not being advertised or promoted, in America or anywhere at this point. It is possible that A&F was referring to the 1902 9mm “FAT barrel” as they do illustrate the “Old Model” Luger. More probable is that Abercrombie & Fitch was advertising the “New Model” Luger and using an “Old Model” Luger picture file copy. Many period catalogs used Old Model Luger pictures when advertising the New Model Luger, including Hans Tauscher ads, up to 1914. Neither scenario however, explains the advertising (for sale) reference to the 9mm (.354) caliber Luger pistol and the subsequent lack of a listing for the caliber 9mm ammunition. Page 215 advertises a Luger holster for the 4-¾” Luger. The subject original 1906 Abercrombie & Fitch catalog itself is extremely rare. Especially since Abercrombie & Fitch recommended on page 320 in the INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORDERING that the customer “Please destroy all previous issues.”(!)

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1912 Casimir Weber catalog

The Casimir Weber company was one of Europe’s leading pre-war firearm dealers. The company was located in Zurich, Switzerland. The Casimir Weber catalog shown above is printed in French. There is an earlier 1907-1908 Casimir Weber catalogue¹ with a page that describes the 1906 “New Model” 30 cal Luger but shows an old model Luger. This could be attributed to the fact that no pictures were available due to the newness of the new model. The 1907-1908 catalogue also features an old model Luger with a 7 inch, 30 caliber barrel and a 1^st issue flat Thumb Safety with no descriptive text. Four years later in the 1912 catalogue the identical 7 inch, 30 cal old model Luger is shown but this time with descriptive text. It is hard to determine if these 7 inch barreled Lugers were manufactured with the barrels shown or were after market replacements. Based on the 1^st issue thumb safety, it would appear that the guns were manufactured with the 7 inch barrels. Similar 7 inch barrel Lugers have been located in South America in the 10000-10100 commercial serial number range. Apparently the 7 inch barrel Lugers were not a commercial success, judging by the limited production and having been advertised for at least a dozen years.

Amazingly, a prototype C93 Loewe Borchardt pistol is also advertised in the 1912 Casimir Weber catalog. It is a very early short barrel version which until recent times was thought to only have existed as a patent drawing example. Since the descriptive text for the C93 Borchardt advertises a single, used pistol, it could be the one that was known to be manufactured, almost 20 years prior to 1912. This could also be the same pistol as the recently published prototype C93 Loewe Borchardt pistol, serial number 8.² Regarding the Luger it is difficult to determine, based on the subject 1912 catalogue what was the then current market for the Luger.

¹ Luger Holsters and Their Accessories of the 20th century, by E. Bender, Copyright © 1992 pp. 462-464.
² The Luger P.08 Luger Pistol Propaganda Series, Volume III by G. de Vries & B.J. Martens, Copyright © 2002 pp. 9-11.

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1913 Francis Bannerman Catalog

The Bannerman Company dated from the Civil War. They were one of the first merchants to recognize the value of surplus military goods and became the premier private arms dealer in the world. They bought 90% of the surplus from the Spanish American war and after they were told not to store the 90 tons of explosives in New York, they bought Polopel Island in the Hudson River near West Point. The company prospered until the 1970s. Catalogues of their goods were routinely issued for almost one hundred years. These early Bannerman catalogs were printed on very cheap newspaper type stock and the quality of the printing deteriorated in the later years and pages were reproduced as such. It’s miraculous that they survived at all. This 91 year old March 1913 catalog measures 12”H x 9”W x 1” thick and contains 420 pages.

The March 1913 pre-WWI catalog is especially significant to the Luger collector as it features advertisements for the U.S. Army auction sell off of a major portion of the 1901 purchase of 1000 Model 1900 U.S. Test Eagle Lugers from DWM and 1000 Rock Island Arsenal made holsters for the U.S. Army Test Eagle Lugers. Approximately 780 of these Lugers and an unspecified amount of holsters were auctioned off by the United States army and purchased by Francis Bannerman and Company sometime in 1910-1911.¹

This March 1913 catalog shows two ads for the surplus U.S. Test Eagle Lugers, one on page 112 advertised as an 8 shot repeater and the other on page 121 advertised as a 9 shot repeater and one separate ad on page 321 for 100 of the 1000 Rock Island Arsenal Holsters. If one is to believe the ad that Bannerman acquired only 100 of the RIA Luger holsters and 780 Luger pistols, that leaves the whereabouts of 680 RIA Luger holsters in question. An alternative answer could be that by March 1913 after possibly 1-2 years of advertising, only 100 holsters were left for sale, again assuming Bannerman was advertising the subject Lugers since 1911 and assuming that the pistols and holsters were sold as a rig, although the separate ad for 100 RIA Luger holsters seems to refute the rig theory.

There is also an ad on page 166 for the old model Luger carbine for a very high price of $48.00 as compared to the other weapons on the same page. The ad caption incorrectly describes the Luger carbine as: “Made by the famous Mauser rifle makers,...” and misspelling Lugar vs. Luger.

It is very interesting that in 1913 Bannerman used an engraving of the pre production 1899 Borchardt-Luger in their ad of which the identical engraving was used in a 1902 Baker & Hamilton correspondence envelope ad. The ad used the recent U.S. Army tests of the Luger to promote sales of the 1900 regular commercial version of the American Eagle Luger.

Since the Test Eagle Lugers were auctioned off to Bannerman in 1911 and they were still being advertised two years later by Bannerman in 1913 indicates slow sales of these Lugers. Also confusing are the two ads for these Lugers in the same March 1913 issue at different prices, $18.45 vs. $17.85. This indicates either

Poor editing by Bannerman and in order to “move” the items the price was reduced.
Noting that lower priced ad uses an early instruction manual drawing showing the old model internal workings may indicate that the ad was for the regular M1900 commercial American Eagle.

Although the fact that both ads advertise the RIA Army holster, conflicts with the second assertion.

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1914 MANUFACTURE FRANCAISE D’ARMES ET CYCLES

Rotated factory picture.

Rotated photograph of employees.

	This firm was a leading French manufacturer, importer/exporter of sporting goods. This catalog is circa 1914 and measures; 10.5" x 7.5" and consists of 1200 pages of text and illustrations. The catalog has sections relating to clothing, bicycles, cutlery, sporting goods and a very large portion relating to firearms, i.e., Luger, Mauser, Colt, Browning, Gaulois, Winchester, Lebel, and much more including shot shells. This catalog is separated into segments with each segment having its own individual colored cover. An example of this type catalog can be seen on page 27 of Gazette des Armes, "Le Luger, un Pistole de Le'gende.

Mouse over for blowup of page 169.

Mouse over for blowup of page 263.

Mouse over for blowup of page 287.

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Circa WWI J.L. Galef general catalog
	Founded in the late nineteenth century, Galef handled military goods – including some Parabellums – in the period before Stoeger gained the sole distributorship in the early 1920s.¹

	The J.F. Galef catalog shown is not dated but appears to be published in 1919 or the early 1920s, shortly after WW1 as the Luger carbine featured on the catalog appears to be a new model grip safety dished toggle knob configuration. Advertising a new model carbine is unusual as prior to the 1920s it was a very rare item. The comment on page 9 that: “It is impossible to import brand new Luger pistols….” coincides with the early post war years indicating the import of reconditioned Lugers, prior to the remanufacture of new Lugers. J.L.Galef apparently sold Luger ammunition as noted on page 2 and although no boxed Luger ammunition has been identified with J.L. Galef, they did import ammunition as shown in the figure below with J.L. Galef identified as the importer and distributor. It is not known whether the advertised Luger ammunition was imported or domestic but there is no doubt that boxed Luger ammunition exists with J.L. Galef on the label. Back side Left side Right side Front side ¹The Luger Book by J. Walters, Copyright © 1986, p 119.

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1921 Gustav Genschow & Co. catalog #29

Close-up of page 17

Close-up of page 31

Close-up of Luger on page 31

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1922 Pacific Arms Catalog

Close-up for top of page 5

Close-up for bottom of page 5

Close-up for top of page 6

Close-up for bottom of page 6

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1923 Luger Sales Catalog, 2 originals

	Pictured above are two original 1923 Luger Sales Catalogs.

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1923 106 and 1924 107 P.VON FRANTZIUS catalogs

	Pictured above are original 1923 and 1924 P. Von Frantzius catalogs, 106 and 107.

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1924 Pacific Arms Catalog

	Pictured above is an original 1924 Pacific Arms Sales Catalog.

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1925-6 Von Lengerke & Detmold Catalog

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1926 Schoverling, Daly & Gales Catalog

	Schoverling, Daly & Gales was one of the first American retailers to advertise and market the Model 1900 Luger in magazine and periodicals as early as May 1902. One such ad is shown in the May 1902 issue of the Shooting & Fishing Journal. The picture used was an engraving of an 1899 preproduction Borchardt-Luger, apparently that was only what was available. The store was located in New York City on the same idea as Abercrombie & Fitch, (VL & A) Von Lengerke & Antoine, Chicago, (VL & D) Von Lengerke & Detmold, New York, etc. One other early 1912 Schoverling, Daly & Gales catalog is noted by the author. Based on the catalog numbers, about three to four catalogs a year were printed by Schoverling, Daly & Gales. Using this information, it is estimated that the first catalog was issued about 1892. The earliest of the authors’ collection is a 1926 catalog featured herein (shown above). Unfortunately there are no Lugers advertised, however there is a Luger holster ad and an ad for Luger ammunition.

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1927-8 Von Lengerke & Detmold Catalog

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1930s Jenkins Corp. Catalog

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1931 Carlos Rasetti Catalog

	The firm of Carlos Rasetti was located in Buenos Aires at 526 Rivadavia from the mid 19th century (founded 1857) through the 1930s. Rassetti was not a small time operation as there was a French Rasetti factory as shown above in a rare 1931 Rasetti catalog. The Carlos Rasetti label found on boxes of ammunition, DWM and other German manufacturers state they were imported through their French factory “ARMERIA DE PARIS” as early as 1906. It has been reported that Carlos Rasetti closed its doors in the early 1960s.

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1933 Francis Bannerman Catalog

	Francis Bannerman is the retailer who acquired through auction in 1911 and subsequently sold off the surviving Model 1900 U.S. Army Test Eagle Lugers and Rock Island manufactured Test Eagle holsters.