Background
Herbert Hemphill, who was known as Bert, was born in Atlantic City January 21, 1929. His mother, Emma Bryant Bradley Hemphill, had been raised by her uncle, William Clark Bradley, an entrepreneur whose most famous business was the Coca-Cola Company. His father, Herbert W. Hemphill Sr., was a New Jersey businessman whose fleet of 2,000 elaborate wicker rolling chairs dominated the Atlantic City boardwalk. Hemphill discovered collecting during shopping trips in New Jersey and Philadelphia with his mother, who collected Dresden china. During his childhood and adolescence he amassed collections of marbles, stamps, duck decoys, puzzle jugs and South Jersey glass bottles.