Albert Gross lived in a small house in a neighborhood outside of Milwaukee. He had come to the United States from Germany in the early 1930’s as his very left wing views (he had been a Communist) left him prey to Hitler’s hatred. He worked at Schlitz which, for those of you who are too young to remember, was the biggest beer producer in the US in the 1970’s. It was in 1978 that Albert called me to come see his stamps.
Albert was not a wealthy man, but he had always worked, and he had a house, and he had no family and had spent all of his money over the years on German and Austrian stamps. The house was loaded floor to ceiling with albums and boxes and unopened envelopes of stamps, and after an evaluation, Albert and I decided that selling his collection at Public Auction would be the best way to dispose of his lifelong hobby. I packed and packed, and when I was done there were 178 cartons of stamps and covers that we sent back to Philadelphia. Stamps were such an important part of Albert’s life that when I left, what remained in his home was a bed, a dresser and empty bookcases.
Albert had bought lucky (and as my favorite line in musical theater-from Pippin-says “It’s smarter to be lucky than it’s lucky to be smart”), and he had bought multiple quantities of immediate post war Germany which he sold lucky-at the top of the Carter inflation market and German Mark run up. Perhaps Albert had spent $40,000 on his stamps. They realized over half a million. Albert told me that over forty young people went to the University of Wisconsin on the scholarships he set up.