The End Of The Chicago Philatelic Powerhouse .

Can't believe the second part of the final Rasdale Stamp Auction went past mid-night again . I checked in at midnight after spending the eveing with friends . But seen they still had 200 lots to go

They should of broke that auction down to three days , those long days and late nights had to cause buyers to skip a big part , the 15 or 16 hours was too much for all the older stamp collectors who would be bidding .

Still upset about this auction was like a funeral ,I want a party or get together with Chicago style hot dogs and Chicago deep dish pizza . Spent $300.00 in auction fees and didn't expect gold platted stamp tongs like from Stanely Richardson at Kelleher but wanted my 2 Chicago Hot Dogs .

Yeah, I'd be really ticked off if I had consigned stuff that went across the block like that.

I am a bit surprised that they haven't sent clients to another house that they have a good relationship with. They were tight with Regency and benefited from that debacle.

Well, I went winless at Rasdale and I was not being shy on the things I was bidding on. So the consignors of that stuff at least should be happy.

I'm surprised there wasn't a new thread about Rasdale's last auction, or I guess maybe this one is the de facto thread (the title works well enough)

The last auction notes that Kristin is retiring and the office is closing, but Kevin will continue to buy/sell stamps. Can anybody explain what that means? If he is still buying/selling stamps why wouldn't there be another auction? And why wouldn't that venture still be called Rasdale?

"If he is still buying/selling stamps why wouldn't there be another auction? And why wouldn't that venture still be called Rasdale?"

Buying and selling isn't the same thing as running an auction. His choice. Not calling what he will do Rasdale may not have been entirely his choice (it was the family business name).

An auction the size of Rasdale's is not a one or two person affair and I am guessing that Kevin doesn't want the pressure of processing over a thousand lots for a catalog. Reviewing each lot, photographs, data entry etc. Then there is the invoicing and payment processing for both buyers and consignors and shipping which is a massive task.

Why lose the family team only to replace them with new hires and continue a stressful pattern.

Running an auction is a HUGE undertaking. I have worked for auctions occasionally in the past, and doing one is months of work; obviously the more people involved the faster the work will go. Doing good descriptions is a skill, and there are not a huge number who can do them well. Plus the setup, the viewing, the invoices, etc.

Agree that a stamp auction is a huge undertaking and a large financial commitment . Not only that but you also need a large space to have it with a experience staff .
Since the new generation of the extended Rasdale family decided it wasn't for them .
My guess and it is only my thinking ---That Kevin decided why sell to all the wholesellers and ebay sellers why not do it part-time ,why not retire and move to Florida and spend half the time fishing and only half the year selling on-line direct to that huge crowd of previous buyers he build up thru the years .
Maybe just be his own retail store on line ,that skipping all those cranky wholesale buyers .

Thanks for the explanations about Kevin, it makes sense. I'm a little fuzzy on the history, from the auction:




When they were located in downtown Chicago, where exactly were they, in the Loop? What was the address? And what year did they move from downtown Chicago to Westmont?

Rasdale's first address appearing in my notes...505 E. Walker, St. Johns, Michigan.

Rasdale's second address appearing in my notes...36 S. State, Chicago, Illinois.

ETA: Not saying these are correct or complete; this is what I have.

They moved to Chicago in 1968 on to Dearborn St. ,it was in the downtown loop . Then in the early 1970's they moved to their first location on State St . Then they moved to a new location , I believe that was 36 S State st ,at the second location I had excess to a freight elevator that went down to a alley ,where we could load my suv with boxes . It was this location Kevin and Kim join the firm . Their mother was working there and she set up my account as "pay when you want /Oh ! hell just mail the invoice to his wife " .
It was in the early 80's they moved to Westmont Illinois , which is about a 3 mile walk to my house ,all down one street .
They had one unit office with stamp auctions at the Holiday Inn in Oak Brook . Then they moved the stamp auctions to the Seminary / College a mile away in Oak Brook Il. . Later they expanded to having a joint auction room at their office .I usually park a block away at BEANIE BABY PARK in Westmont .

My account is maybe the oldest account for a active buyer ,it is almost 53 years of stamp purchases . Both my daughters have been there a numbers of times at their Chicago building and know where in the office building the candy machines were. Before the auctions we walk down to JOHN ROSS stamp store and next door to him was the Popcorn shop that had hot carmel popcorn Chicago style .The girls also enjoy the ride home because they would crawl up on the boxes and stamp lots in the back on the ride home .

Not in the same league with anyone who has posted here, but barriers to training up new "experts" include:

*lack of face to face cohesion/ community
*vast distance between stamp libraries, if you don't live in California or the Northeast. For example, the UT Dallas library is about 40 miles from this location, and the next closest is 700 miles.
* Uneven online resources- some websites are antiquated with broken links, maintained by amateurs who don't know computers well. I don't know if I could do better, but I can see the need for better.

More knowledge is in these older sources written by those in heaven or h___ today, than by those of us who are still here!

Nice oral history/anecdotal of Rasdale and it's early years Floortrader. I have been bidding Rasdale for the last 10 years or so and will miss them. But you have beeen bidding them for 53 years, you're really going to miss them!
I bid their last sale pretty heavily (for me). I had to have something from Their last sale. I did take 6 lots.
Cheers m

Great stuff Floortrader, really appreciate it!! 36 S State St is definitely prime real estate, it appears it is a tall office building. Sounds like they must have been an upper floor (not retail level) if you were using the freight elevator.

In Chicago was there anything like Nassau Street, other dealers clustered around that area?

TSMATX--- Chicago philatelic scene was build different than New York with its Nassau Street .

Nassau was a bunch of stamp dealers bunched together trying for the retail market both local buyers and buyers coming thru the city on business .
Chicago was build around local stamp clubs who got together for the big COMPEX show each year . It was more of a stamp collectors town with many huge and advance stamp collections .Since it was mostly European especially East European . That is what influenced my early collecting . It wasn't until I traveled to New Jersey for a Greg Manning stamp auction that I met people who collected Asia and British Colonies which were thin in my set of albums .
We had Rasdale Auctions , John Ross , Liberty Stamps and two or three smaller shops in the downtown area. Then like Weiss{ the original STAMP KING } and Richard Drews on the north side of town and Patricia stamp and coins on the south side .
So now you understand when I posted two weeks ago that I finally got the Austrian WIPA sheet for my collection ,it was a regular subject that Chicago collectors discussed in front of me as a young collector ,it was kind of a measue of how the hobby prices were trending . Sort of like a price index as used in the financial markets .