New York's Nassau Street (Where Stamp Collecting Began)

Came across this article and thought I'd share it in retrospect to the old Nassau Street Stamp Dealers:

http://www.cityofsmoke.com/archives/1571

wt1
There is a dealer of Jewish origin in MTL who told me about this. Haven't read the article yet. The dealer lives in the "Wonderful World of Stamps".

Goodness, Scott of present day catalog fame appears to have been quite the wheeler dealer. He would probably fit right in today(ahem). Seriously, he sounds like a scoundrel.

That was a neat article. Thank you.

Hi

wt1: Great article. It brought back many memories of years gone by.

When I lived in New York I came across dealers that were very honest, some that were questionable and some that were just scary to deal with. It did make an interesting adventure buying stamps in New York City.

I remember one dealer that did not make one feel warm and fuzzy buying from him. However, a lot of people, me included, did buy. He used to frequent the New York shows carrying an accountant's case containing classic, or relatively expensive, US stamps. If you wanted something and he had it he would show it to you. If you wanted the stamp he would put it in an envelope with your name on it. Then he would tell you to meet him at a specific diner and a specific table at a prearranged time (usually at night). You went to meet him and pay for your item. I am sure he had "offices" in various diners throughout the city (I used the Queens office). He had a business card with a phone number that you could call and arrange a meeting. The dealer was from either Brooklyn or Queens (do not remember) and was very recognizable as he was tall, thin and wore cowboy boots and a Stetson hat. He did not "sell" at a show as in New York that was not allowed unless one had a table.

I remember buying on Nassau Street. If you did not like a dealer's price, you went next door to another dealer and negotiated a price based on that of the first dealer. I also remember Subway Stamp Company that was literally in a subway arcade (thus the name).

As the "All In The Family" song says, "Those Were The Days".

Jerry B

great story. Scott showed that there's no need to cloud the truth with facts, something that many politicians seem to understand.

Great to read about Herman "Pat" Herst Jr. too. I didn't realize he attended the University of Oregon. I live a few blocks away from that fine institution.




That's Big Blue, my album.

To say it contains spaces for nearly all stamps issued is overreaching a bit, though. It has 35,000 spaces for the 90,000 total issued; still a healthy amount.

Thanks for sharing WT1

jbcev80
Great post. I was delighted.

What would most of us would do if we have to flee home and country? We would grab at least our most valuable stamps. Many Jewish collectors who had the chance to flee persecution in Europe with their stamps end up in New York on Nassau Street.

I've been to Nassau Street just once, Subway Stamps was the only shop left that I could find. I felt let down because I was expecting a few more shops to explore. Memories...

Art

i worked in Manhatten in 1963...i never made it to Nassau St. but there were small storefront stamp dealers in midtown..they could still afford the rents in those days..i did attend the ASDA show and bought stamps at the U.N. post office...

Nice article...William of Nassau was Dutch Royalty..but he was German not Dutch..Nassau is in Germany not Holland !!

Great story. How it used to be.

philb, you caught a good piece of information there. In fact, he was of German lineage but he later became "William of Orange" and helped gained the independence of the Dutch states: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Silent
Probably would have been better that the article refer to him as one of those but since they were looking for a link to 'Nassau'...

Hi philb

Did you ever buy from Dumont and Scott on 57th street? Also, I seem to remember a building on 5th avenue (near 42nd st?) that had a number of stamp dealers. A friend used to refer to the building as Nassau Street midtown.

Speaking of ASDA shows, two years ago I gave away a pile of the ASDA show cards to a friend that collects them. I pretty much completed his collection for the 60's and 70's. I used to go to Roosevelt field on Saturdays for the little bourse they had in the mall. My wife would go to Fortunoff's and I would buy stamps. For some reason she always managed to spend more than me

Jerry B