The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-02-25
"BACK-NUMBER BUDD"
THE PROSPEROUS BUSINESS OF AN
ENTERPRlslNG COLORED MAN.
Over Million Copies OF Old Newspapers
Collected on an Original Capital
OF SS-ReIics OF Old
New York.



Robert VI. Budd Back Number Rudd >
be IS called is q colOred man and was born
IN W ashlngton thirty-two years ago. Five
years AGO he came to New Norkwith IS IN
bis pocket and opened q boot backing stand
where NaLack' s theatre now is Sbrewd,
enterprisiDg and industrious. he got along
and soon branched out into the news paper
business Like other Dewsdealers he some
times found himself with unsold copies Of
the daily papers on his hands The fire.
quent inquiry for old papers suggested an
idea 20 Ny. Budd. aud his present bust
ness is the carrying out of the idea-the
keeping Of complete files Of ali New York
papers. 50 as 10 be able TO furnish back
numbers at any time
In the basement Of 1872 Broadway
on the east side Of the street. a few doors
above Thirty second, Budd has his place
de still does business As a booth ack. but
numerous signs inform the pub ic that
here they may subscribe for any publica
ton desired. AT one side Of the entrance
to the dark basement is this notice. Back
numbers Of all daily papers for every day
IN the year, while opposite IS another
sign. -Poots BACKED . cents. Still
another informs the public that the place
Is open every day in the year from
a II. 10 10 p. m and that while seven
boot backing tickets may be bought for
p cents, The proprietor IS not willing 70
labor on the Lords dsy for Uothing, aud
therefore charges 10 cents Tor backing
boots after T. N on SUNDAY.
PAFERs on FILE.
When g reporter visited the place It was
very dark. except 81 the foot OF the stairs.
and dim ist Of gas IN the back part Of
the room only seemed 10 add 10 the gen
eral gloom. al about the room. on
shelves. tables and counters, were piles Of
newspapers The proprietor. tai, good
~. r-u~
IL a book, stopping now and then 10 sort
out some particular paper from q loose
pile behind him.
Eyes, be said sim Back Number
Budd That nickname helps 10 advertise
my business 50 l don mind I've been
here since j. cd 20. 1852: began with less
than wagoD-load Of Old papers, and now
l have ], o0J, 900.
What do / charge for these old pa
persg That depends on how old they are
and how much they are wanted My
prices run IRON cents up Sometimes
these lawyers want paper TO use ia
court, and they have 10 ray for it. The
most 1 ever charged for q single paper
was $50. A lawyer paid me Gao Tor two
copies Of The sun published in 1861
Newspaper men often borrow papers.
look them over here in the shop and pay
me 30 cents or 81 \ large part Of NV
papers out until they are paid for Gen.
Grant has bought papers from me. In
June, 1854, be came and got a months
hle Of the papers containing an count of
the Grant * Ward failure. and tue nezt
day his wife got The World and Tribune
Tor the same time.
How do / keep track? Oh. that's easy
enough The papers are arranged by
dates and lied in bundles Of one mouth;
then each paper has its own particular
shelves. and the bundles are stored in req
ular order and each bundle is tagged
Here, for instance pointing to a pile of
papers, is The World \ GU see they
are arranged n double rows of six; that
gives twelve bundles. one year. on each
shelf. You ask for The w ord Of July 4.
1853. Here's the 'S3 shelf; July is the
end bundle IN the second row seventh
month. you know, and the paper YOU
want is the fourth from the top of the
bundle. The only trouble is that I'm
getting crowded and will soon need more
room This p ace is 24X65. and it's full
already. l keep files of twenty-five
dailies, two sunday papers and eight week
lies