Hockshop

New York, NY: Random House, 1954 Random House, New York. 1954. Hardcover. Stated First Printing. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: Good +; light bumping to head and tail; moisture spot on the tinted textblock top with no penetration to pages; light rubbing to boards. DJ: Good; NOT Price Clipped ($3.75); missing small pieces at head, tail, and tips; rubbing and light soiling to panels; wear to flap folds and spine shoulders. Clean internals. Inner hinges are sound and not split. Pictorial musical instrument endpapers. 311 pp 8vo. This book tells the story of the fabulous 'Emperors of Pawnbroking' - the William (Hockshop) Simpsons who for five generations maintained the oldest, best-known and most respected pawnshop in the United States. The family business began in 1822 when the first William Simpson came from England and set up New York's first hockshop. From the era of O.Henry to that of Damon Runyon, the Simpsons did business with gypsies, morticians, gamblers, actors, sportsmen and thousands of others who came to their store to solve unique personal problems. Among the items handled by the Simpsons were the Hope Diamond, a Stradivarius, a ten-volume History of the Jews, fifteenth-century manuscripts, paintings, a set of Chinese screens, rugs, linens, coins, antiques, watches and a Crusader's giant thumb ring. The people who hocked these varied treasures were famous and infamous, rich and poor, ethical and not so ethical. There are stories here about 'sleepers' - those unexpected bargains that turn up so rarely, and there is even an expose of clever frauds and shady tricks used in the past. In addition, the appendix covers techniques and customs of pawnbroking and gives five basic rules for hockers, plus a brief history of borrowing and lending through the ages. Here you will learn how to protect yourself, how to tell genuine from fake merchandise, some dependable trade names, and how to determine value. A clean presentable copy in a Brodart mylar jacket.