The Curbstone Brokers
The NYSE had competition from smaller exchanges both in New York and other cities. One of the largest New York organizations to compete with them was a group of securities dealers who conducted their business outside, rain or shine. They were known as the Curbstone Brokers.
The Curbstone Brokers were willing to deal with stocks of smaller companies that couldn't meet the requirements to be listed on the Big Board, as the NYSE began to be called.
Relying on prices set earlier in the day at the Board's auction, they would gather in the evenings where they would auction as little as a single share at a time. The big exchange set a minimum of 100.
In 1880, William Worthington Fowler described these after-hour brokers as "they are all eyes and ears, scud and scamper, their fingers quivering like aspen leaves, their mouths pouring out a stream of bids and offers. Disencumbered of all the spare syllables, while they telegraph signals with the ten digits and with nods and winks".
After over 100 years, the Curbstone Brokers decided it was time to move inside. In 1919, they purchased a lot at 86 Trinity Place at the west end of Wall Street, and erected a tall modern building. In 1928, they renamed themselves the New York Curb Exchange and moved into their new home. It wasn't until 1953 that the Curb changed its name to the American Stock Exchange.
The Curbstone Brokers
The NYSE had competition from smaller exchanges both in New York and other cities. One of the largest New York organizations to compete with them was a group of securities dealers who conducted their business outside, rain or shine. They were known as the Curbstone Brokers.
The Curbstone Brokers were willing to deal with stocks of smaller companies that couldn't meet the requirements to be listed on the Big Board, as the NYSE began to be called.
Relying on prices set earlier in the day at the Board's auction, they would gather in the evenings where they would auction as little as a single share at a time. The big exchange set a minimum of 100.
In 1880, William Worthington Fowler described these after-hour brokers as "they are all eyes and ears, scud and scamper, their fingers quivering like aspen leaves, their mouths pouring out a stream of bids and offers. Disencumbered of all the spare syllables, while they telegraph signals with the ten digits and with nods and winks".
After over 100 years, the Curbstone Brokers decided it was time to move inside. In 1919, they purchased a lot at 86 Trinity Place at the west end of Wall Street, and erected a tall modern building. In 1928, they renamed themselves the New York Curb Exchange and moved into their new home. It wasn't until 1953 that the Curb changed its name to the American Stock Exchange.