NEW YORK CITY -- He gets up shortly after 5 am, catches the 6:01 train, and "this morning I opened up the shop at 6:40," said Kenneth M. Newman, the well-known, always smiling, friendly and often opinionated print dealer. But that schedule should not surprise anyone, for here is a man who grew up under the strict hand of the "Prince of Prints," the legendary Harry Shaw Newman, and he is only one year shy of celebrating a half century of association with The Old Print Shop.

The real celebration, however, is that of The Old Print Shop itself. This year marks the 100th anniversary of this reknowned business, which got its start in 1898 between 9th and 10th Streets on Fourth Avenue behind Wanamaker's. Edward Gottschalk founded the business which he moved to its present location, 150 Lexington Avenue, a former fabric store, in 1925.

The shop did well in the twenties when prices for paintings and prints were near the top of the market. Harry Newman was one of those fueling the business, acting as a runner and bringing many of his "finds" to The Old Print Shop. His first contact with prints was the discovery of a roll of Currier & Ives works in the attic of his grandmother's summer hotel in Ocean Grove, N.J. He sold them well, and that was the start of a career which took him from the linen business into the art world where he made contact and gained recognition with dealers and collectors all over the world.

Following the death of Mr Gottschalk, his widow turned to Harry Newman to continue the operation of the shop, with a five-year option to buy. In 1933, when the final payment was due, the Great Depression had taken its toll on the print market and it was only through a loan from a long-time friend and famed Currier & Ives collector, Harry T. Peters, that the deal went through.

"My father did all of the buying," Kenneth M. Newman said, "and did a great deal of it in Europe during the late thirties." He added that "father always had time for the runners who came to the shop, was always available night or day, and, most importantly, paid on the spot for the material which was brought to him." People such as Rocky Gardiner, always one of the favorites and a great friend of the Newman family, came by the shop on a regular basis, along with other dealer including Jack Martin and Dick Mills.

Lots of Currier & Ives prints were always available and became synonymous with The Old Print Shop. Other specialities included town views and Eighteenth Century and Nineteenth Century prints of America. "There was no Twentieth Century in the shop, not with my father," Kenneth Newman recalls, adding "that came into play when my sons joined the business."

Kenneth Newman admits that he grew up with no interest in prints or paintings. He was born in New York City, received his early education in the Glenridge, N.J. school system, and did a stint in the navy. "I really was a farmboy," he said, "and ventured into the city during those early years only for excitement."

For the first four years after joining the staff of The Old Print Shop, Kenneth lived in the city. However, in 1953, after getting married, he decided that he would return to the country and with his new bride built a home in Orient, "way out on the Island." And build the house he did, noting that "I might have been a carpenter as I like that kind of work." Since then he has added onto the house twice and freely admits that "I am afraid of electricity and either hire that part out or do it with great caution." One portion of the construction of the house is still fresh in mind: the septic system. "We didn't have a backhoe in those days and spend considerable time on the end of a shovel digging a cesspool ten feet deep and eight feet in diameter."

Oddly enough, there are no Currier & Ives prints hanging in the house: maps and a few Audubons decorate the walls. "Our main interests stay in the shop," Kenneth says, "and at the moment we have over five hundred Currier & Ives prints for sale. We are never sure of that count as they are in file cabinets, on the walls, and just stored here and there."

There was a time, way back in 1949 when Kenneth Newman joined his father as a fulltime employee, that keeping track of the inventory was not in the work schedule. "I was there to fill in some of the gaps and really did none of the buying," he said of those early days. Often a day would be filled running errands, making sure that the shop was clean and presentable, and matting many of the prints which needed to be framed. "I still mat a print now and then and have not lost my touch.

The shop today is not unlike its beginning in 1925. The old wooden floors show years of travel, the tin-patterned ceiling is still in place, and the lighting fixtures have been changed, but a good number of years ago. The walls, once panelled, received a coat of white paint du~ring those early days and countless file cabinets and display cases have filled the shop to provide an almost continuous tabletop from the front of the building to the back. Most of the storage pieces are of oak, the remainder of pine which has darkened from both time and use.

"I had a desk in the back up until a few years ago when one of the boys took it over," Kenneth explained, "and now I do most of my work at this table or wherever I can find space." As he was mentioning this, he was leaning against a large file cabinet, one with a bit of free space on the top, opening the day's mail. "I tend to make use of what space I can find," he added.

At the back of the shop, filed away in heavy cardboard boxes, are hundreds of cards documenting each and every customer along with a complete record of purchases. "Now we put it all onto the computer," Kenneth said, "but these cards read like a history of the business." Among the works noted on one of the cards, and also pictured in the 1942 catalog, was a "View of Gloucester" by Fitz Hugh Lane, dated 1852, an oil on canvas measuring 24 by 39 inches. This framed piece sold for $450. "But then the price of a subway token was five cents, not $1.50 as it is today," Kenneth noted.

One well-known name after another surfaced on these file cards, among them Electra Webb of Shelburne. "She was a wonderful woman and really liked father," Kenneth noted, adding that "he would take a lot of things up to Shleburne and spend the weekend at the Brick House. Mrs Webb bought paintings and prints, and never turned down a good American primitive." Many of the Bard paintings in her collection came from the Newmans. "You could often buy them for $400 each at that time."

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was also a good buyer for Williamsburg, and many of the dealing 35 years ago were through Mitch Wilder, then director there.

Listed in the "O' file box was Irving S. Olds, chairman of the board of U.S. Steel. He was a noted collector of American naval prints and scenes of both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. His devotion to collecting was evident through the works of art which decorated three floors of the U.S. Steel Building in New York.

F.D.R., while President of the United States, selected a Hudson River view to hang in the oval office, and J.F.K. hung a military scene from The Old Print Shop in his office during his days in Washington.

Arthur Dean, an attorney with the New York City firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, was a valued client but made most of his purchases either at a show or through the catalog. "He came only once to the shop," Kenneth said with a smile, pointing out that "there are lot of people in the city who will not go below 34th Street."

For a time Kenneth was a steady buyer in Europe and his two dozen or so visits have taken him into just about every print shop in London and Paris. "It was a major source for material for many years," he said, but added that "I have not been back in about fifteen years now." He also recalls the days when he would travel up to Ellsworth, Maine, and then take Route One back home, hitting all of the shops and finding "wonderful things." Chicago and Orlando would be just day trips to buy things, and even California was handled in short order. "I would spend six hours at the book fair in Los Angeles, then go to San Francisco and have an 8am meeting with Warren Howell, a very important dealer in books and prints. By 10 am I was heading for the airport and the things I bought were at the shippers," he said.

The Old Print Shop is a regular at both the Winter Antiques Show in New York and the Washington Antiques Show. In talking about New York, Kenneth mentioned how Russell Carrell, the manager, "would walk into every booth, look things over, and ask to have any questionable items removed. He had a good eye and was an early stage of vetting." The White Plains Show was always good, which kept The Old Print Shop coming back for thirty-five years.

In addition to the show, The Old Print Shop gains a great deal of exposure through its own catalogue, "Portfolio," which it has been publishing eight to ten times a year since 1941. The January 1998 edition of forty-eight pages was edited by Robert Newman and both lists and illustrates many of the works presently for sale at the shop.

While repeat customers are always the best kind to have, there is a good deal of "walk in" trade at the Shop, especially on Saturday. "People love the Currier & Ives prints, as they really tell best the story of life in the Nineteenth Century." In particular, railroad, winter scenes, farms, and baseball are the most popular. "We find maps very exciting, and the prices on good ones are moving right along," Kenneth said.

A print of "The First Cities Of The United States", circa 1815, showing Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Richmond and Charleston, is considered by the Newmans to be the rarest print handled by the shop. Thought to be more important than Paul Revere's Boston Massacre, this work, printed on both sides, was purchased at a Chris Snow auction in Newburyport, Mass., for the sum of $9,000. "I don't know who underbid the print, but when I became aware of it I went to the auction with every intention of buying it. The print went into an important collection and now hangs in an office in New York City," Kenneth said.

It seems to follow that those who have an interest in prints, also have an interest in books. In any case, such is true with the Newman family, especially Robert, Kenneth's oldest son. He lives in Central Valley, a daily bus ride of one hour and ten minutes, and is in the shop by 6 am. Robert graduated from high school in 1972 and after further studies joined the firm full time in 1979. With him he brought a sharp interest in Twentieth Century printmakers and artists, and books. One thing led to the next and now The Old Print Shop has expanded, taking over the store next door and hanging out a sign which reads "Old Print Shop Art Books."

In talking about this "addition," Kenneth notes that "we could have bought it ten years ago, but the furnace needed lots of work and the face of the building was in need of repair." He tells of walking about the cellar a number of years ago when he was knee deep in water due to a broken pipe. "We finally found it before it did any damage to our part of the building, and from that day on I have kept a pair of high boots at the shop."

This extension of the business, now about six months old, has all new shelves and cabinets, the computer is in full view, and it even smells new. Robert runs this end of the business, but has given up some space towards the rear of the shop to his brother, Harry, who oversees the firms position in maps and atlases. Harry, the next to youngest of the four Newman children, started to work part time in 1978 and has been full time for several years, commuting by train from Northport.

So with the boys now sharing the work load, and daughter Nancy helpimg out part-time (The oldest child, Janice, is a fulltime housewife), it might appear that some sort of retirement is in the picture for Kenneth. "Not at all," he says, for he is having fun, meeting nice people, still buying wonderful things now and again, and doing a bit of hunting and fishing. Combine that with a pastry for breakfast, soup and a roll for lunch, and lots of coffee all day long, and Kenneth Newman, age seventy, in at the shop to stay. "I am there six days a week now, but cut back to five during the summer."

"Father was in Europe on a buying trip about thirty-five years ago," Kenneth remembers, "and a person walked into the shop with a four-volumn set of Audubons. He was asking $32,000 for it and I was not allowed to write a check for that large amount." The end result was that the client gave a week's grace in order for Kenneth to contact his father and receive approval for the purchase. "I finally reached him, talked up the deal, but the answer was a firm 'No' since he had to see it to buy it." That same set was appraised at the end of last year for $3,750,000. Does it cause regrets? "Not really," Kenneth said, "he was the boss and made those decisions." Audubons have always been a speciality of The Old Print Shop and over the years the firm has bought and sold nine sets. "Quite remarkable when you think of it," he added.

It is quite evident from the looks of The Old Print Shop that Kenneth Newman is not a strong believer in change. And hopefully, the enviorment of the shop will not change, for it is as it should be, cluttered but everything in its place. It issues an immediate invitation to come in a poke about, and such behavior is not discouraged by the Newman family.

Truly it is like stepping back in time to visit the shop and to take in the thousands of pictures and prints which hang on the walls, overflow from racks, and make stacks on the top of the file cabinets. The only real hint of electronic progress is an occassional computer, and then it is generally hidden by a sea of paper.

On this particular day Sam, Kenneth's three-year old grandson by his daughter Nancy, was at the shop and was drawn to one of the computers. Seated on his grandfather's lap, the youngster went at the keys and brought up programs which captured his attention. Kenneth's enthuisism for the computer was obvious and he was quick to say that "the kid knowns more than I do about this thing." With that, and as if to escape from the modern world and return to his world of prints, Kenneth said "Nancy, I think this little guy needs a tire change."