Arthur S. Vernay, Inc. (New York, N.Y.)

Arthur Stannard Vernay founded the antiques business that bore his name. Born in England, Vernay came to the United States as a young man and began to deal in antiques; he opened his own shop in 1906. He sold English antiques almost exclusively. In addition to selling antiques, Vernay's firm offered restoration and interior design services, including the installation of period paneled rooms. This was an important part of the business, employing up to forty people. At various times, the firm had branches in London and Boston, and a summer shop in Newport, Rhode Island. For a brief while, it had a reproduction arm called The House of Philip Oriel, but it went out of business as a result of the Great Depression. In 1928, Stephen J. Jussel began to work at Vernay, Inc. He became general manager of Vernay, Inc. and essentially was head of the company by the early 1930s. Vernay officially retired in 1941, but the business continued in existence with Stephen J. Jussel, J. Gordon Irving, and J.L. van den Broeck as officers. After Irving and van den Broeck died, both in 1952, Jussel bought the business. In 1972, his son Christian (Chris) Jussel began to work for him. In 1978, Chris Jussel bought J.J. Wolff (Antiques) Ltd. when Mr. Wolff was ready to retire. Joel Wolff was from London, England, and came to New York City after World War II and opened an antiques importing business and then an antiques shop. Also in 1978, Arthur S. Vernay, Inc. became Vernay and Jussel, Inc. - a change in name to honor Stephen Jussel's 50th anniversary with the business. After Stephen Jussel's retirement, Chris Jussel continued to run the business until 1994, when he closed the store in order to pursue other interests.