Benjamin Altman was born on July 12, 1840 in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of Philip and Cecelia Altman, Bavarian Jews from near Nuremberg, who came to New York about 1835, settling in the lower East Side. Phillip Altman conducted a small store near his home, and here, we may assume, Benjamin received his first training as a salesman. In these humble surroundings he learned honesty, thrift, and perseverance. His father died when Benjamin was still young.
Altman attended a public school near his home, and may have completed the grammar-school course, but this was the extent of his schooling.
Most of Altman's experience was gained in small Newark and New York dry-goods shops. In these he gathered also the capital to open, in 1865, at the age of twenty-five, a similar store of his own on Third Ave. , near Tenth St. His success and ambition are attested by his removal in 1870 to Sixth Ave. , where his brother Morris was for a time his partner. Morris later withdrew to engage in an independent enterprise, but on his death, in 1876, Benjamin Altman took over his brother's business and established himself at Sixth Ave. and Nineteenth St. David Frankenberg became his partner temporarily, but soon Benjamin Altman as sole owner of the business could give full play to his dreams and his determination to develop a large and distinctive department-store enterprise.
After thirty years of progress at the Sixth Ave. location, in 1906 Altman moved his store to the northeast corner of Fifth Ave. and Thirty-fourth St. , being a pioneer in the trend of big business to up-town Fifth Ave. By this time Michael Friedsam had become his partner and the firm was known as B. Altman & Co. , the name it still retains. Successive additions after 1906 enabled the firm finally to occupy the entire block bounded by Fifth and Madison Aves. , Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Sts. The business was incorporated in 1913.
Shortly before his death, he established the Altman Foundation to promote their welfare and to aid other New York philanthropical enterprises. Another side of Altman's life is revealed by his esthetic tastes.
At an early age a love for the beautiful began to assert itself and in 1882 he began a collection of Chinese enamels and porcelains. This led to interest in other fields of art, until the treasures housed in his Fifth Ave. residence consisted of some thousand articles of remarkable rarity and beauty, including porcelains, enamels, tapestries, rugs, furniture, sculpture, and paintings. William Bode, the German art critic, wrote that he had never seen a finer private collection of paintings. Altman made an extended tour of the Old World in 1888-1889, using a keen eye and excellent judgment for rare and worthy art objects. Shorter trips to Europe were made in 1890 and 1909. He also acquired a valuable art library, familiarizing himself with the history of his acquisitions. During his later years he devoted himself more and more to these various collections, leaving business affairs largely in the hands of his partner.
He died, after a brief illness, on October 7, 1913, at his residence, 626 Fifth Ave. , New York.
Altman became a famous merchant and art collector who established one of the world’s greatest department stores, B. Altman & Co. He took a constant interest in the welfare of his employees and was among the first to establish for his workers luncheon, rest, and medical service.
His will disbursed property to the value of approximately $35, 000, 000. There was a substantial legacy to the National Academy of Design, to foster American painting, which he had always encouraged. His entire art collections, appraised at $20, 000, 000, were given to the Metropolitan Museum, New York, where they constitute the largest individual gift, "notable alike for their wide range of interest and the uniformly high quality of their contents. "
John Wanamaker, himself a leader among merchants, placed Altman first among the retail merchants of New York, and called him an excellent organizer. Another fellow merchant attributed his success to "ability and hard work--a lot of ability and a lot of hard work. " Altman also possessed health, keen discernment, and balanced judgment.
Altman never married and cared little for social life.
