Only five candles lit up Mickey Mouse’s last birthday cake (on September 30). But already this world-famous movie star, who sprang into international popularity straight out of Walt Disney’s ink-bottle, is demonstrating something like genius in finance and business.
So phenomenal have been his feats as a super-salesman that Forbes, a hard-boiled bimonthly of American business, devotes a special, article to Mickey’s business acumen. From Forbes we learn that something like forty American manufacturers are now duly licensed to use the name of Mickey Mouse in making and selling a wide assortment of articles-things that appeal not merely to Children, but to grown-ups as well. A Mickey Mouse radio seems to be the latest toy to reach the retail market.
In the earlier years of his pepularity, Mickey’s business affairs were considered a secondary activity, but a survey of his merchandising potentialities eventuated in the appointment of Kay Kamen, a departmentstore executive, to handle the complex problem of licensing. […]
