Message From Victor

A message from Victor

I’d like to personally welcome you to my latest venture, Legacy Americana. The concept for this website evolved over many years, going back to my days working under Tom French. Even before that, as a teenager in “pre-Internet” days, I had made an early foray into the Americana business, producing catalogs under my own name, my inventory consisting of items I had collected since childhood. One of those catalogs, created with a typewriter, 35mm camera, and photocopier, found its way into Tom’s hands, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I could not have asked for a better mentor. As Tom’s assistant, I gained instant insider status in a world of collecting I scarcely knew existed. I had been peripherally aware that there was a market in vintage political items, but I wasn’t plugged into it, nor did I comprehend what an active and organized hobby it was, one ripe with opportunity for the enterprising dealer. By following Tom around, it became apparent that a career was open to me, were I to pursue it.

Having dropped out of college after my freshman year, it seemed imperative at the time to finish my degree before embarking on any business venture, however promising. I therefore left Tom’s employment to resume my studies in Annapolis, only to receive a call barely six weeks into the first semester: Tom had decided to sell his mail order inventory and newly-launched website, scaling back operations in preparation for a move to be near his parents. His father was ailing, and he needed to be available to help his mother (a situation that, ironically, I would face within a few years). He wanted to give me first option, and he would let me pay over time.

It was a tough decision to make. Having settled back into campus life, I was reluctant to walk away from my education a second time. I had undertaken a rigorous program in the classics, requiring total focus if I were to make passing grades. Trying to run a business at the same time would mean almost certain academic failure, and would likely compromise the business as well. But could I ignore such an opportunity? After weighing the pros and cons for several days, still unsure I was making the right choice, I called Tom from the hall phone in my dormitory, and we sketched out an agreement that would transfer ownership of some tens of thousands of buttons, posters and assorted ephemera, and a mailing list of over 1500 collectors. It was October 1999. With the turn of the millennium, I would be launched as a fulltime dealer in political Americana. While I can’t say it was entirely without regret, I haven’t looked back.

As I enter my tenth year in the business, I can look upon my accomplishments with certain pride—counting survival as one of them, for that was anything but assured in the beginning. I would not be writing this, however, if I didn’t believe that the past is only prelude to a future filled with even greater promise and possibilities—for this company, for the Americana industry, and for the American people as a whole. I am more convinced now than ever that our best days are yet to come, and as we share a love of history, I look forward to sharing that future with all of you.

November 2008

Customer Service: 1-800-675-5838