Rick,
Just to clarify things a bit more for everyone...
DWM, under the guidance of designer Georg Luger, developed the original 1900 Parabellum, in cal. 7,65mm Parabellum, for the Swiss army. The Swiss acceptance of the firearm in May, 1900 fixed the design of the pistol.
The first American Eagle was applied to the chamber of a Parabellum pistol around serial number 700, but the American Eagle promotional series started with serial number 2002. This was probably late in 1900, but there is no way to know for sure.
The U.S. Army order for Parabellums to test was delivered in October 1901. These pistols were delivered from a successful and thriving commercial production line of more than 6,000 pistols at the time.
The 9mm Parabellum cartridge was under development as early as 1902. It was based on a shortened 7,65mm Borchardt case. The 1906 "New Model" Parabellum was offered in both 7,65mm and 9mm Parabellum calibers. It (and the 1900 "Old Model" which preceded it) had thriving commercial sales in Germany, the US, and South America.
Although Georg Luger appeared several times in the U.S. to demonstrate his pistol, Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken's "office" in the U.S. was a business operated by Hans Tauscher, DWM's exclusive representitive.
In the U.S. the Pistole Parabellum was commonly known as the Luger, after its developer. Also in the U.S. (as well as other parts of the world) the 7,65mm cartridge proved to be the much more popular of the two. In the U.S., a country whose measurerment system was not (and is not, still) metric, the cartridge became known as cal. .30 Luger.
The Luger name and the caliber are distinctively American; Parabellum and 7,65mm are the recognized designations everywhere else.
In 1908 the German Army accepted a modified version of the Parabellum pistol as the Pistole 1908, designated as P-08. Exclusively in 9mm, this official designation of the military pistol remained through the end of WWII. In Europe and elswhere the toggle-action, Georg Luger-designed pistol is often conventionally, although sometimes erroneously, referred to as the P-08--in the same manner that in the U.S. the pistol is almost universally, though equally erroneously, known as the Luger.
In 1922 the A.F. Stoeger Corp. in New York became the exclusive agent for BKIW (formerly DWM) and sole U.S. importer of the Parabellum pistol, and in 1929 registererd the name "Luger" as their trademark. Many pistols officially imported after that time were marked "Genuine Luger". Stoeger also caused manufacture of a .22 cal. pistol, operating with a toggle but with no other design characteristics of the Parabellum pistol, also stamped with the name "Genuine Luger".
--Dwight
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