On a sunny March morning in 1963 the First Lady of the United States of America, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, walked into the Newel Gallery on second avenue. Jackie explained that she and her husband were building a vacation home near Middleburg, Virginia and she was on the hunt for English Regency lacquered furniture. At the time, most celebrities only shopped with their interior designer, but Jackie Kennedy was different in that she liked to scout antiques by herself. Back in 1963, Newel had a small shop on second avenue filled with vases, lamps, and accessories, and two lofts a few blocks away filled with furniture. Jackie spent that entire day going back and forth between the different locations selecting a handful of beautiful pieces. She purchased 13 items that day including a pair of Victorian English papier-mache chairs, a three-piece nineteenth-century red lacquered chinoiserie salon set, a black lacquered English Regency chest and stand, a pair of French Empire-style porcelain urns, and two English Bristol-style lamps. 

During Jackie’s visit to Newel, she explained how she was in the process of redecorating the White House and was looking for a nineteenth-century American Empire chest of drawers for a guest bedroom. Although Newel did not have what she was looking for, this did not stop Newel’s Bruce Newman from going out and finding it. He searched high and low at every antique shop in New York City and would mail Jackie photograph after photograph of different pieces he hoped she would like. This led to a series of letters back and forth between the First Lady and Mr. Newman. Eventually, Mr. Newman was able to find the perfect piece at a local thrift shop and purchased it for Jackie Kennedy for $90. 

Mr. Newman’s friendship with the First Lady continued to blossom throughout the 1970’s. The relationship between Jackie Kennedy and Newel is significant in that it ultimately helped shape Newel into the antique powerhouse it is today.