Kay Kamen

Herman "Kay" Kamen (born Herman Samuel Kominetzky;

Kamen was born January 27, 1892, in Baltimore, Maryland to Russian-Jewish parents, and spent his early life working as a merchant and an advertising man.^[2] Kamen was the youngest of four children. He did not finish high school and spent time in a juvenile penitentiary. His first work was selling mink hats in Nebraska in his twenties. He appeared to be a good salesman.^[1]

Career

In his thirties Kamen founded a marketing company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company's specialization was developing products based on movies and negotiation of merchandising agreements for a number of prominent animated figures.

In 1932, Kamen contacted Walt and Roy O. Disney with a proposal to handle licensing of their characters. They were receptive and invited him to come to the studio and make a presentation. Sensing a major opportunity, Kamen immediately withdrew his life savings from the bank and sewed the money into his coat for the two-day train trip to Los Angeles the same day and stayed awake for the entire trip for fear of having his coat stolen. Upon arriving at the Disney Brothers' office, Kamen spread the money on their desk and promised them that amount plus 50% of the revenue he would generate with the merchandising license.^[4]

As a result, Kamen (although briefly delayed by him falling asleep while the Disneys were privately conferring over the offer