Housman had apprenticed in his father 's wholesale dry goods business and attended the Charlier Institute , at that time the best private school in New York .
The firm 's earliest predecessor , Burrill & Housman , was founded in 1885 by William Burrill and Arthur Housman .
Arthur Housman had apprenticed in Housman 's father 's wholesale dry goods business and attended the Charlier Institute , at that time the best private school in New York .
The firm 's earliest predecessor , Burrill & Housman , was founded in 1885 by William Burrill and Arthur Housman .