A collection of stories and memories by Herman (Pat) Herst, Jr. about his days as a stamp dealer on Nassau Street in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Nassau Street was the center of the stamp business during these decades. Nassau Street was first published in 1960. Although the book was reprinted several times, this seventh edition published by Linn's in 1988 was the first revised edition.
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About the Author
Herman "Pat" Herst, Jr., was one of stamp collecting's most prolific writers. His articles appeared regularly in the philatelic press for more than half a century. Nicknamed Pat because of his March 17 (1909) birth date, Herst was born in New York City. He soon moved with his family to Portland, Oregon, which had been the home of his maternal grandparents since 1850. After his graduation from Reed College in 1931, he returned to New York where he supplemented his Wall Street salary with sales from the stamp collection he had started at the age of eight. He soon found that he frequently could sell a stamp at a price higher than he had paid for it. He decided he could make a living selling stamps, and in 1935, Herst opened an office on Nassau Street in New York City, the stamp dealers' Mecca. Eleven years later, Herst moved to Shrub Oak, New York, and later retired to Boca Raton, Florida. He died in 1999. In addition to his columns, which appeared in most major stamp publications, Herst authored several books. He was one of the few philatelic authors who could boast of having his books in the hobby sections of many public libraries across the country. His works include Nassau Street, Fun and Profit in Stamp Collecting, Stories to Collect Stamps By and More Stories to Collect Stamps By. For many years, he also published Herst's Outbursts, a house organ containing retail offers and stories.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Warm and informative info on stamp dealing and collecting,
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This review is from: Nassau Street (Paperback)
Pat Herst was one of the giants of American philately and Nassau Street is his autobiography, and probably the best of his many books. It's almost impossible not to tell Herst stories -- he was a wonderful resource for this collector during the 1950 through the 1980s when he was most active. I've listed a couple of memoirs in the first Comment.
Nassau Street tells how Herst became a dealer including a buying trip to Europe with his first wife and his mother, a fascinating character in her right. A violinist and music writer, she was a great supporter of dogs; this letter from 1942 captures her style (and some of Herst's): To the Editor of the New York Times: Concerning meat rationing, how about "Man's Best Friend," the dog? Most dogs consume two pounds or more of meat a week. To most owners these animals are a necessity. England greatly regretted having destroyed most of her dogs in the beginning of the war and advised us to profit by her experience. Are we to tell our dogs they must have meatless days too? Lillian Herst. Herst's autobiography is filled with stories about early stamp dealers, for example the Burger Brothers: Arthur would say to Gus, "What should we ask for this?" Gus would answer, "Twenty dollars." Arthur would then tell the collector, in earshot all the while, "Just what I was thinking. Forty dollars." [Anyone who outwitted them was elected to the Fox Club.] "The rules were simple. One had to visit the offices of the Burger brothers, buy a stamp from them at retail and then put it in one of Doane's auctions. If the buyer netted a profit on the deal after paying Doane the commission, he was in. But simple as the rules were, the attainment of membership was fraught with certain difficulties. In the first place, the stamp would have to be bought sufficiently below its value to permit a profit when sold at auction. Since the Burgers were usually anticipatory in their prices, asking a figure at which an item might be expected to sell 10 years hence, this made a profitable sale more than unlikely. The only way would be by finding the Burgers uninformed on the true value of something--and these Joves hardly ever nodded." Herst moved from Nassau Street to Shrub Oak, and carried on an extensive correspondence. For six SASEs, you could get his "Outbursts" on a regular basis, lengthy reports on the state of the stamp market or stamps of interest to Herst -- and he was interested in almost all stamps. If you were lucky, you might get a copy of his local stamp proving that your letter had been carried by Alfie to the Shrub Oak post office. Inspired by Herst, I once created six copies of a local stamp that carried mail by umbrella from the first to the second floor porches of our apartment in Madison Wisconsin. Herst was greatly amused by the cover I sent him proving delivery to the postman six feet below. In addition to Nassau Street, Herst was the author of several other books on stamps and stamp dealing, including "Still More Stories To Collect Stamps By" "The Complete Philatelist" "The Best Of Herst's Outbursts" "More Stories To Collect Stamps By" Pat Herst's writings are still some of the warmest and most informative sources of information on the joys of collecting stamps. Robert C. Ross 2009
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book every stamp collector should read,
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This review is from: Nassau Street (Paperback)
This is the most literate book for stamp collectors ever written. It is the true classic among the many books about the halcyon days of collecting, collectors, and dealers. Mr. Herst was a professional writer and recounts his experiences of the golden days of collecting and the unique institution that was Nassau Street in lower Manhatten.
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