For those older Trappers in the Pacific Northwest, it is an end to an era. Goldberg has closed.

http://www.hegoldbergfur.com

Irwin Goldberg is still living but with no family members interested in taking over the business, he has decided to retire.

No matter whether you liked or disliked Goldberg, it is sad to see them close.

It would be interesting to hear stories about your dealings with this company. Please keep then civil.

I have nothing but good things to say about Goldberg. I honestly believe that the OTC became what it is today because of the competition between HE Goldberg and Moscow Hide and Fur. WissMiss enterprises played a part there also

As an "older trapper" in the Pacific Northwest, end of an era. My first face to face with a buyer was at the Goldberg buying stations. Good and bad memories for sure. I and many others looked forward in earnest for the "price list" for the upcoming season.

They were about the only fur buyers servicing western Alaska. It was when the Y-K mink were king and fox were bringing great prices.

It took me several years to get trappers to put up mink and otter fur in after they quit coming out.

I think Goldberg was basically the west coast version of Groenewold wool and fur. In fact, originally the Goldberg brothers were also wool buyers.

It was kind of funny because when the wild fur market started to soar in the late 70's Goldberg sought that fur very aggressively. He had fur buying stations throughout Washington and Oregon and also had buyers going to Alaska on a regular basis. If you had enough fur he would have a buyer come right to your door and make you an offer. If you shipped he always had the guarantee that if you didn't like the price they would ship your fur back for free. He also always reimbursed your shipping cost.

And as Bearguy mentioned, we used to always look forward to getting the fall, winter, and spring pricelists sent to us. At one point he even went so far as to grade your fur and then bump the offer by 10% on the total value of the fur.

I remember at one point pressuring the old man to reimburse me for my gas since I liked to drive up to Seattle with my fur. (Told him I was saving him a lot of $$$ by not having him reimburse me for shipping heavy beaver pelts). He did it one time, but if I remember right the next time he refused. LOL

And he sure hated it when the OTC got going and a large percentage of fur was going out onto their tables. (Some of these auctions took 3-4 days to get it all done). Of course he officially refused to be in attendance; but we were well aware that he usually had a buyer or two representing him there.

Another thing I will say about Goldberg was that he had an uncanny knack for reading how the future would unfold in the fur business. I remember one time telling him that he was paying too little for otter and the market for them was a lot stronger than what his offer was. He responded that a lot of buyers were soon going to regret what they had paid for otter. Sure enough, a few months later otter prices dropped about $100 per pelt.

Well....1912 to 2018. 106 years for a business is pretty darn good! L'chaim H. E. Goldberg!

While working at Pacific in Spokane, we bought a hair slipped bobcat. We knew it was slipped in the leg and shoulder area. I cut 4" out of the cat and sewed the two pieces pack together. It was put on an auction and H E Goldberg bought it. That is what I think of every time I hear the name.

I had them look at my furs a number of times but never sold to them. Seemed like there were a lot better places to go.
I thought he hadn't bought fur for a number of years.

Sorry to hear this Nancy, another of the old guard gone. Mr Goldberg was a true gentlemen in the auction room. He used to love to buy the black beaver.
Jim

Goldberg hasn't bought fur from trappers for a number of years. He was still active in Alaska selling tanned skins to the native women for sewing.

He would attend the FHA sales when they were held in Seattle. Bought very specific items. Extra dark (not black) beaver, better end wolverine. Some times fox.

Jim - just to clarify, Irwin Goldberg is still alive. It is just the business that has closed.

And yes - always a gentleman!! Polite. Professional.

I got that Nancy, just really sad to see another of the old guard not in business anymore. Seems that the overall wild fur business gets smaller every year.

I made many trips to his place on Western avenue in downtown Seattle. Good memories, I can still picture the old elevator operator and hear the sound of the creaky floors.

I always turned my early otter fur out and sent them to Goldberg right up til when he quit buying from trappers. He had some Russian buyers that were more interested in the FUR, rather than leather color. Otter that the auction houses graded #3, would bring the absolute top of his otter price list. Big otter, extra dark, and not a curled hair tip in the bunch.

As you know his dad was in the fur business too, before him and his uncle, Leo Goldberg was in the business for many years in Helena. I heard he once had five buyers in Alaska buying for him. Irwin told me he used to Drive Leo to Florida every year when he was getting older, and one year Leo said he had to go to New York to do some business so Irwin took him, While he was there, Leo set Irwin up on a blind date with a furrier's daughter....they were married over 50 years!
George Brady

I didn't know that story! Good job George.

ok beaverpeeler, here is another one,
Irwin's first purchase in the fur business was a large group of eastern Montana lynx cats that he bought from Leo, I think he said there were 150-or so in the lot and he paid $3.25 apiece for them. He said he sweat blood until he sold them, but he made something like a dollar a piece profit. I would like to buy that same lot today for that price!

That sounds like the averages I got for my Willamette river beaver...well, maybe I did a little better.

Here is a funny Irwin story:

I brought up my second batch of beaver for that season, (a pretty nice collection of mostly coastal) and on my way back home I pulled into Tacoma and took a better look at my grade sheet and saw that he had paid about $5 less per grade/size straight across since my delivery of three weeks before. So I called him up and asked if the market had dropped on beaver to which he said "No". "Well, how come I got paid less on every size and grade? He asked if he could call me back in a few. After a bit he called and said he had it figured out: On the first batch he had made a mistake in the office by grabbing his Alaska price list and paying those prices. On the second batch I got paid with the correct lower 48 price list. "Oh" I said.

A few days later I got a check in the mail for nearly $300 with a new grade sheet crossing out all the Oregon prices from the second batch and replacing them with the higher Alaskan ones!

That’s a great story. I’ve had a cattle contract end in a similar way. I wish everyone did business that way. He sounds like a great man

In the spring of '69 I was in 5th grade. I had been reading Fur Fish and Game, I'd been setting a couple of traps without really knowing too much about what I was doing, I had never bought a license.
I didn't come from a hunting or trapping family, but my folks encouraged me to do whatever I took an interest in. It must have been sometime in June of '69 I talked my parents into driving about 30 miles into Seattle in order to pay Goldberg's a visit, I think my folks wanted to see if I really could sell the skins that I might catch.
I'll never forget that visit, Irwin was a great guy, he showed us all around the warehouse, and gave all of us a little education. One thing in particular that I remember is he had just got in a bunch of shot spring 'rats from Alaska. He showed me how the natives who had shot them had meticulously sewed up any holes with animal sinew, the tails had also been skinned down a ways and had holes in the tail skin that was used to laced the hides together in a big bundle.
Lots of good memories.

Since the subject of H.E. Goldberg just came up I thought I would revive this thread.