Kay Kamen

Herman "Kay" Kamen (born Herman Samuel Kominetzky; January 27, 1892 – October 28, 1949) was an American merchandising executive, who worked for the Walt Disney Company. He promoted merchandise in association with the Walt Disney Company including Mickey Mouse – the most popular cartoon character of the early 1930s.

Early life Kamen was born January 27, 1892, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Russian-Jewish parents. He spent his early life working as a merchant and an advertising man.

As a result, Kamen (although briefly delayed by him falling asleep while the Disneys were privately conferring over the offer Kamen's firm quickly monetized Mickey Mouse's image, providing a much-needed line of cash to the struggling Disney firm through its Walt Disney Enterprises division. The following year, Kamen's firm developed the Mickey Mouse watch, which was produced by Ingersoll-Waterbury and soon became the bestselling watch in the United States. The success of the Mickey Mouse watch not only provided much needed revenue to the Walt Disney company, but it rescued the Ingersoll-Waterbury watch company from certain bankruptcy. By 1948, revenue of licensed Disney products totaled more than $100 million.