Oswald Cornelius Van Dreisen was born November 27th, 1901, in NYC.  The youngest child of William Hans Van Dreisen and Margaret Alicia Dysart Van Dreisen (nee’ Gage), he was named after his maternal grandfather, Fitchburg industrialist Oswald Gage.  His parents met at a Long Island hunt club, where his mother’s expertise with firearms captivated William. William Van Dreisen inherited his father’s shipping concern, and has expanded to include the import and sale of various antiques.

Frail and sickly, as a child Oswald was sent to live with his grandmother, Emily Dysart Gage, at her mansion in Fort Lauderdale. His rather eccentric grandmother collected unusual artifacts from all over the world, inculcating in young Oswald a taste for the exotic. She occasionally took him on voyages throughout the Caribbean on her yacht, Erato. There he learned Spanish and Creole.

Oswald went to William and Mary for his BA in History, where the mild climate did not irritate his asthma. For his graduate work, however, he chose Harvard, where he acquired both an MA in Art History and a strong dislike for Massachusetts winters. Upon graduation, he rejoined the family at their mansion on Long Island.

Although his mother fears for his delicate health, his father insists that he be a part of the family business. His brother John, in London, handles imports from the UK. Uncle Walter controls the Canadian-Great Lakes district. Another brother, Frederick, lives in Agua Caliente, Mexico, where he heads the West Coast/Latin American trade. In addition, Frederick owns a restaurant that is popular with the Hollywood colony.  His mother’s sister, Lucille Desmarets, lives in Paris, where she and her husband Charles coordinate the exportation of certain French agricultural products to the US.

With his background in Art History, it has been determined that Oswald will best serve the family by acting as a buyer for the burgeoning antiquities trade. Eager to capitalize on the “Tutmania” sweeping the fashionable New York set, his family sent him to Egypt to make some suitable purchases. To guide him through the maze of fakes, his mother contacted several colleges, requesting a suitable expert to help him in his quest.  Impressed by the many letters of recommendation, she has hired one Sydney Bedard, whom, she believes, is the right man for the job.