Perhaps the longest run for a shell dealer I have heard is for a French
Natural History supply company established by Nérée Boubée (1806-1863).
He was born in Toulouse, France and became a noted naturalist, geologist,
author, and teacher. In Paris in 1845, he established Éloffe & Compagnie, a
natural history supply company (minerals, sea shells, etc.). His natural
history supply company was inherited by his son and continued under his
grandson until the 1960s under the name Comptoir Central d'Histoire
Naturelle. I ran across this information because he described Theodoxus
thermalis Boubée, 1833, and I was digging into his history.
I still have a catalog from The Collector's Cabinet in New York City (Jerome
M. Eisenberg) put out in 1971. It lists 3-4 inch Cypraea hesitata for $3,
3-4 inch Cypraea cervus for $3, 2-3 inch Cypraea pantherina for $1.50, and a
2-3 inch Thatcheria mirabilis for $5. Despite these examples of low prices,
many of the shells are priced fairly closely to what we see today.
Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Marcus Coltro
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Ward's Natural Science Establishment and Shell dealers
I was checking Pilsbry's book to scan some pages to post here, and a small
label dropped from the
book:
http://www.wonderphotos.com/shellphotos/ward.jpg
I checked on Internet and these guys still in the market! Of course they
changed from selling shells
to something else
http://www.wardsci.com/default.asp
I wonder if any shell shops selling today will be active after more than 100
years....
By the way, who is the (hum... how can I say it without being offensive?)
most "ancient" dealer
still active nowadays? When we started selling shells back in 1989 our
friends in Florida used to
call us "The Boys from Brazil", some still do and I appreciate that!
Marcus
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