Daniel David Bader was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on
December 27, 1923, youngest of the four sons of John and Rose Bader, who
emigrated from Germany, first to Canada, then to America.
John worked a series of jobs, among them a stint with the Boston
Elevator Company, then after moving to Brooklyn, NY, in the furniture
department of Steinway & Sons Pianos. The four boys, George,
Ed, Herman & Dan began moving pianos as a way to supplement the
meager family income. This was the genesis of what eventually
became Bader Bros. Van Lines, Inc., a giant among independent New York
movers.
Shortly after Dan graduated from Bushwick High
School, he was drafted into the US Army and fought with the 4th Infantry
Division in the European Theatre of Operations in World War II. He
was the sole survivor three times in platoons in which he served, and
would be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in battle.
Upon their return home after the war, Dan and his
brother Herman (who served with distinction as a bombardier/navigator
with the Air Force in the Pacific Theatre) resumed their careers with
their other two brothers, as well as George's brother-in-law, Fred
Bauer, who would eventually become a full partner in the firm. The post-war boom would see Bader Bros.'
business grow rapidly, moving thousands of New York retirees and
transferees to Florida, and eventually Bader Bros. trucks carried
shipments all the way to the west coast. It was during this time
that Dan met Ethelyn Berger who lived a few brownstones down from the
family on Decatur St. in Bushwick, and they married on June 15,
1947. Three years later, they would welcome their only child,
Donald, into the world, and would move from their duplex in the Glendale
section of Queens to East Meadow, Long Island. It was also during
this period that Dan would get his first taste of auctioneering in 1962,
selling dead storage lots at a facility the family purchased from the
William H. Strang Company, located at 900 Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn.
After the Baders sold their interests in the van line
business in the mid 1970s, Dan continued to do auctions for movers the
family had known over the years, most notably Molloy Bros. And it
was thanks to one such Molloy auction around 1988 that he was referred
to the self-storage industry. He became an "overnight
sensation", and the business grew so rapidly that his son Don,
whose background was in broadcasting, acting and retail sales, moved
from Atlanta and went into partnership with him. And the rest, as
they say, is history. Auctioncheer, Inc. (a name chosen by Ethelyn)
continues to this day to be the undisputed leader in self-storage
auctions in the metro-NY area. More than anyone, Don Bader knows
he will always be standing on the shoulders of his legendary
father. But as Don likes to say, he enjoys the view.
Dan shortly before leaving for World War
II "Dan the Moving Man" With
Ethelyn, her aunt & grandmother With
Broadway legend Carol Lawrence
Bader Bros. Warehouse at 900 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn,
where Dan did his first auction
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