I recently purchased at auction what looks like an antique letter opener from "United Fur Brokers" in New York. There is not a zip code so must be at least pre-60's. I have not yet picked it up or I would post pictures. Been doing some research on the web but really have come up blank. If you know anything about the company or can point me in a direction it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Moosetrot

First of all - neat item.

They were huge in the wild fur business back in the day. Were still in business in the 1970s.

They put out a fur market report printed on blue paper. Published weekly during the fur season. I have some issues some where.

I bet Don Wolf could tell you more.

I think the person's name was Slenker or something like that.

Moosetrot, I was in the fur business in the 80's and sent some fur to them. I could be mistaken since it was a long time ago. I believe the owner's name was Sid and Zach Rosenfeld and they were located in New York. I only dealt with them once so can't give you any more information than that. I'll be interested to watch this thread to see if I was remembering correctly. Good luck in your search.

Wissmiss, Maybe I was wrong then. The name Ralph Slenker does ring a bell though just not sure why. LOL.

I got it at that online auction in Prairie du Chien along with a bunch of other neat stuff. Will be heading down mid-week to pick up. Did not buy any traps. Some stuff went extremely high but I was able to get some pretty cool antiques. I got that vise towards the end of the listings. It is an 1880's farriers step-vise...I really wanted it and will be overjoyed to have it in my hands.

Moosetrot

Was that letter opener listed in the on line auction? If so, you are dang lucky I didn't see it!!

I picked up a bunch of traps. Plus I had a great time bidding. He had a lot of cool stuff.

It was mixed in with a bunch of miscellaneous tools, one of which is some kind of shear that I have never seen before. Trying to find out what it was used for but an coming up blank. Once I do the pickup I will post a picture of that too. Maybe somebody on here with know.

I tend to look at online auction lots very carefully as sometimes there are gems hidden in them...like the letter opener.

Moosetrot

Lance - it could have been the Rosenfelds. I honestly don't know. Back in the day - 1950s, 1960s, 1970s - the wild fur trade revolved around NewYork City. Brokers everywhere. Manufacturers. The whole 9 yards. How things have changed!!

United was Ralph Slenker. Very old time broker. I came up under the guy who shot a hole in Ralph's office door. Ralph had an entire city block and the biggest cold storage in New York City.

Rosenfelds were another fur brokerage business all together, equally as dangerous.

Wissmiss-I got that bin of trap springs and chains, too. Gonna be fun to see what's in there!

Moosetrot

Slenker wrote the fur report in FFG, everytime I would qoute him to a furbuyer their comeback was" he ought to buy some if its worth that".

That begs the question why did the guy shoot a hole in Ralph's door. Don't leave us hanging!

Probably trying to rob him of his priceless letter opener!

Moosetrot

I believe Sid Rosenfeld operated under "East Coast Fur Brokers." I spoke to him once on the phone--never sent anything to him.

Here are 6 documents from Archive.org mentioning in their text, "United Fur Brokers:"

https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22United%20Fur%20Brokers%22&sin=TXT

Thanks loads, folks!

Moosetrot

Does anyone what the fur buyers names were that got caught in the mesabi dnr sting? I heard they were jews in nee york and that getting caught buying illegal fishers in the 80’s basically shut them down