Bob Driscoll

Bob Driscoll

Bob Driscoll was a member of the American Philatelic Society for more than 50 years, and collected stamps as a child. Starting in the stamp business in 1959, he was owner of R & R overs, one of the largest first day cover companies in the U.S. He sold the company to General Mills, then owner of H.E. Harris Stamp Company. Then, as a Vice-President of H.E. Harris, he was responsible for developing their first day cover division, special marketing promotions and an Auction division.

Along the way, Bob met Arlene Dunn who had been a mail order stamp dealer, specializing in U.S. stamps for about ten years. In 1981, Bob and Arlene not only merged professionally, but also personally.

They married, and then founded Barrett & Worthen, named after the street intersection on which they lived at the time. Bob left Harris in 1981 and he and Arlene opened a store in Lexington, Mass. specializing in stamps and covers.

Bob was President of the American Stamp Dealers Association. Both Bob and Arlene were very active in promoting the ASDA and were participants in their yearly strategy sessions, after hosting the first ASDA roundtable seminar in the early 1990s.

Before his sudden death in 2005, Bob used to recall his many years on the road buying stamps and covers. It was during those times that he developed his reputation for candor and integrity as one of the most active marketmakers in the hobby. His fairness and punctuality in dealing with thousands of stamp collectors was virtually legendary.

During his tenure with Arlene Dunn, their firm acquired the rights to Brookman Stamp Company’s famed Price Guide which continues publication today under Arlene’s guidance.

In addition to his five decades in the stamp business, Bob Driscoll became a forceful leader in the stamp dealing community... urging the ASDA to expand its services well beyond its annual stamp shows and into a system of benefits that helped make the American Stamp Dealers Association a true member-based trade association. His individual work, much of it behind the scenes, is one of the reasons why the organization flourishes today as a promulgator of integrity in the stamp hobby.