Amos, Wally, and Gregory Amos. The idea seemed far-fetched, but by 1974, Amos had grown completely disillusioned with the entertainment business. I'm not in the cookie business anymore.". It's how he makes a living, on the road half the year -a literacy conference before Orlando, an insurance meeting after leaving. But the heady times would soon end. And I guarantee, youll experience both.. You have to focus on what you can do, he said. 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, The Early LA Daredevils Who Defied Gender Norms, The Groundbreaking Suicide Squad That Tested Early Rockets And Flirted With The Occult, Why A Property Worth Millions Was Returned To The Tongva Tribe, The Rise Of Lady Lowriders And Other All-Women Car Clubs In LA, The Murderous Lover Who Lived In A Silver Lake Attic. Sign up for NewsOne's email newsletter! For several years, life was very good for Amos. [On-line] http://www.famous-amos.com (accessed on August 15, 2002). but as a child he had an innate spirit and gift to. He served at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii from 1954 until 1957. He is the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and he was the host of the adult reading program, Learn to Read . Hindsight being what it is, Mr. Amos is now able to reflect philosophically on the low points. This is considered such a breakthrough that Famous Amos' shirt and straw hat are in the Smithsonian. In 1967, Amos decided to leave William Morris and launch his own talent agency. Encyclopedia.com. I poured money into start-up costs, investing heavily in what I was sure was a brilliant future. The Uncle Nonam (pronounced No-NAHH-may) Cookie Company specializes in five varieties of gourmet cookies. "His real skill was as a hype man. He started in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency and in 1962 became the first Black talent agent in their history. The legal order came from the owners of the Famous Amos Cookie Company. He would take the cookies to business meetings and to parties, where friends would clamor for them and urge him to sell them. But Wally Amos isn't one to fret over the loss of his name or his company. Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6627 You cant compare a machine-made cookie with handmade cookie. Some of my clients were quitting the business and others were not paying me commission Baking cookies at home was my way of healing myself, loving myself and sharing my love with my friends.". Fax: (816) 502-4155 The Sharks all passed on the opportunity. To create buzz for his concept, he developed a backstory for "The Cookie," putting his years in show business to expert use. From the beginning, he had a whole myth and lore around the store. Before Mrs. Fields and the legion of cookie shops that now tempt us, Wally Amos was the proud owner of perhaps the first cookie-centric store in the United States. In 2012, Amos appeared in the February 16 episode of. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Voit muokata valintojasi milloin tahansa napsauttamalla tietosuojan hallintapaneelin linkki sivustoissamme ja sovelluksissamme. Over the next few years, Amos headed the agency's newly formed rock 'n' roll department, where he worked with Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke. He began distributing Famous Amos cookies in luxury retailers like Macys and Bloomingdales. This was comfort food at its best. "I would team up with others to build a self-contained, music-oriented entertainment company that handled recording, music publishing and personal talent management," Amos recalled in his book, The Cookie Never Crumbles. After his discharge from the Air Force, Amos enrolled at the Collegiate Secretarial Institute in Manhattan. A local history about the extraordinary lives of a generation of female daredevils. When Amos returned to New York, he studied at a secretarial school and was briefly employed at Saks Fifth Avenue before moving on to the William Morris Agency. Business Leader Profiles for Students. Man with No Name. ." In 1989, yet another group of investors dismissed Amos from the company he had founded. Some bags contained no cookies at all. Encyclopedia.com. He was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, until he was 12 years old. Now living in South Carolina, 83-year-old Wally Amos has plans for one last venture, Aunt Della's Cookies. On June 13, 1977, Amos' picture was on the cover of Time magazine, which ran a lengthy article about him and his success. Confidential column in 1975. Contact at: Uncle Noname Cookie CompanyP.O. I thought, if you could just get Saddam Hussein and George Bush together over a bowl of cookies and milk, they'd solve this thing. And he really, really cared about people.". Wally Amos was born on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. Reality was starting to catch up, wrote Michael Ryan in Parade. For an entrepreneur who was down on his luck it was almost too good a deal to pass up. Wally Amos will always be famous, even though he cant call himself that anymore. How the Cookie Crumbled Founded in 1975, the company took off almost instantly. He now leaves the day-to-day operations of his Long Island company, which is based in Hauppauge, to a partner, Lou Avignone, who is a former owner of a larger food distributor. Today, Famous Amos is an international brand you can find in most grocery stores. //]]>, For Wally Amos, success has had a very sweet smell, indeed. On the corner of Sunset Blvd. Similarly, why did Wally Amos lose his company? . and Formosa Ave., in front of a Brazilian restaurant, you might notice a square metal sign. He'd come to the store all the time and my dad would give him free cookies. Cookie included baked goods, storybooks and a variety of merchandise. Applegate, Jane. When a new job opportunity. It seemed to be shining as if neon paint had been used. I'm a promoter.". During its first year in business, Famous Amos had sales of $300,000 and Wally Amos's smiling face became increasingly well known since it was featured on every tin or bag of cookies. Web site: http://www.quiksilver.com Since leaving Famous Amos behind, Wally dipped into other bakery ventures, including the launch of another cookie company in the early 1990s. Current Biography Yearbook. Famous Amos was the real star of the brand, appearing on packaging and merchandise in his signature straw hat and embroidered cotton shirt. "There's a really high awareness of chocolate chip cookies now, and that was created by me." The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips. In 1975, Amos launched the first Famous Amos store on Los Angeless Sunset Boulevard. speaker earning up to $12,000 per appearance. "Never been better, man! His first job after the military was in the stockroom at Saks Fifth Avenue. The Shansby Group sued Amos for violating an agreement that forbade him to use his name and likeness on the packaging of any food products. . [On-line] http://www.kelloggs.com (accessed on August 15, 2002). "When I finally entered the cookie business full time, I acknowledged to myself that I had taken a beating and that it was time for a change," Amos writes in The Power in You. Success came swiftly as The Famous Amos Cookie Company sold $300,000 worth of cookies in its first year and was making $12 million in revenue by 1982. Wally Amos was a walking, breathing brand who couldnt seem to cash in on his own success. I wanted to make the best chocolate chip cookies possible. "He worked with all the Motown acts, with the Temptations and Supremes," his son, musician Shawn Amos says. So it seems. Though his cookies were popular and his name was respected, Amos was feeling a cash-flow pinch. In 1987, he also hosted a television series designed to teach others how to read, entitled Learn to Read, produced by Kentucky Educational Television and WXYZ-TV. The company,. Without its founder, the Famous Amos Cookie Company went in a new directionit stopped producing upscale cookies in competition with gourmet brands and instead went down-market to compete with standard, grocery store cookies. "We're going to have Chip & Cookie boutiques, we're going to focus on gift items -the dolls, cookie jars, a book -but you've got to have cookies to substantiate the concept." Amos no longer sports a beard or his iconic Panama hat, now displayed in a Smithsonian museum. Advertising Age (March 22, 1999): p. 6. I shaved my beard and stopped wearing hats.''. He was sued by the owners of Famous Amos who successfully contended that Amos had relinquished the rights to use his name and likeness in marketing a food product. "When the store opened, it was him in the back making cookies and me standing on a milk crate in the front, selling.". All Rights Reserved. In the late- 1980s the company changed ownership several more times, and Amos ultimately became a mere figurehead with no role in the operations of the company he had founded. Chicago: Nightingale-Conant, 1988. Fax: (856) 342-3878 He had an impressive client list, which included Simon and Garfunkel, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), Sam Cooke (1935-1964), Dionne Warwick (1940-), and Diana Ross (1944-). Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. Instead, he started thinking of ways to promote his business. Some cookies were too small. In an effort to revive his business, he sold a majority stake to a group of investors led by the investment firm Bass Brothers. Amos said hes always been in business to make friends, not to sell treats. Amos tries to coax the pillow away from him. Amos, Wally, and Camilla Denton. Having your face or company named after you, you cant take that to the bank. Your greatest contribution to your country is not your signature straw hat in the Smithsonian, but the people you have inspired to learn to read, Bush said. [16] Wally Amos has 4 children: Michael Amos, Gregory Amos, Sarah Amos,[17] and musician Shawn Amos. After a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force, Amos returned to New York in 1957. "I knew I couldn't manage a damn business," he says, "but then ego gets in the way.". He just wanted people to have fun. ." But it was her recipes for life that sustain me to this day," he states on his website. Kellogg spokeswoman Kris Charles said the company has not significantly changed the original recipe when it acquired Famous Amos in 2001, as part of Keebler. In a world of mass-produced food products, Amos seemingly hit upon the universal "soul food": the American home-style chocolate-chip cookie. Wally Amos's most famous creation, Famous Amos cookies. In the past five years, women in L.A. and throughout California have started creating a new future for custom car culture. He moved to New York Citys Harlem at age 12 to live with his Aunt Della. When you walked into the cookie store, the door to the kitchen had a star on it, because that was the dressing room for 'The Cookie.' Contemporary Black Biography. When a new job opportunity in Los Angeles backfired, Amos grew disillusioned with show business. With the help of a friend, Mr. Amos eventually got the house back. . We made the move to the West Coast, and I fell in love with L.A. the epicenter of the entertainment world. Famous Amos was bought by Keebler Foods in 1998, which pleased Amos. Shortly before graduation, Amos dropped out of high school to join the United States Air Force. He did so on purpose, but rather than stir the fires of racial stereotypes, Amos thoughtfully examined the topic of race and bias, along with many others issues he had come into contact with throughout his life. Lower Lake: Aslan, 1994. U.S.A. I have a fetish for chocolate chip cookies, Amos admitted in Ebony magazine. He had enormous enthusiasm for his products, and he used his boundless energy and personal popularity to promote them. 1992: Started Uncle Noname Cookie Company. Being famous is highly overrated anyway, Wally Amos, author of ten books, friend of Simon & Garfunkel, and inventor of the Famous Amos cookie, told an AP reporter in 2007. His good nature and solid work habits soon helped him to advance, and he was eventually named the companys first black agent. In 1998, Keebler purchased the brand, keeping Amos as the spokesperson. Food is part of pop culture, much like fashion, Szewczyk says. ''It is like Dave from Wendy's,'' said Clive Chajet, president of Chajet Consultancy, which advises companies on brand-building strategies. Racist Ex-University Of Kentucky 'Karen' Sophia Rosing Is Charged For Assaulting Black Student, Mississippi Cops Beat, Waterboarded Handcuffed Black Men, Shot 1 For Dating White Women': Lawyers. Amos's penchant for cooking led him to enroll at the Food Trades Vocational High School, where he studied culinary arts for two years. The man beams. Over the next several years, Famous Amos was bought and sold a number of times. ''I'd lost the company really because I didn't use to listen to people a lot because I was Famous Amos,'' the founder now acknowledges. "My dad is a master showman," Shawn says. What was that taste? His rise serves as the most infamous cautionary tale for aspiring entrepreneurs. [2] He earned his high school equivalency diploma[3] before being honorably discharged from the military. He started in New York, then relocated to Los Angeles, California, nearer the show business capital of Hollywood. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. Amos's promo packet and boundless enthusiasm were enough to convince entertainment industry friends, including singer Helen Reddy, her husband, producer Jeff Wald (another product of the William Morris mailroom) and record executive Artie Mogull to invest in the venture. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. "Spoiled Famous Amos; Now He's the Muffin Man." In 1951 Amos moved in with his mother and grandmother, who had also moved to Manhattan. Financial backer Jeff Wald told Time magazine: We invested in [Famous Amos] for love, but as it turns out, it will probably be a better investment than any we ever made. Leading American Businesses. He became such a known figure culturally that he appeared as himself in the Taxi episode "Latka's Cookies", in 1981. Still, Amos said, he had confidence that he could make his way in the world. He then started another job, in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency, a leading theatrical booking and hiring agency. He has co-written several books of inspiration, including one capitalizing on his failures at Famous Amos. When Amos was 12, his parents separated and later divorced. Amos decided to sell his cookies as a full-time occupation in October 1974, after a long and searching conversation with a close friend. In 1986, Amos was given an Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by President Ronald Reagan (1911-) in appreciation of his remarkable American success story. During his four years in the military, he finished his high school education. . In 1985, Amos sold a majority stake to Bass Brothers Enterprises for $1.1 million. Or, if you stay there long enough someone will come and rescue you.''. WALLY AMOS IS IN THE CHEER business these days, on the lecture circuit, giving motivational talks, telling people, "You're a special person." "He was a fun, positive personality. At school, he claimed that he had developed an intense desire to become successful and to make money. As Amos celebrated the book's success, his business was losing money. "Wally Amos Launches Baked Goods Line Out of Long Island Headquarters." By the time Amos started his own LA talent agency, his roster was chockablock with sixties swagger: Diana Ross & the Supremes, Sam Cook, and Simon & Garfunkel were all friends. U.S.A. As an article in Current Biography Yearbook, states: "In the process of promoting his client, whether an entertainer, or a cookie, Amos himself became a star of sorts on the American scene.". San Francisco Business Times (November 19, 1993): p. 1. Amos later recalled that the person of greatest influence in his childhood was his father's mother. "On the front cover there was a picture of The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie," he writes in The Cookie Never Crumbles. A Famous Cookie And a Face to Match; How Wally Amos Got His Hand And His Name Back in the Game, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/03/business/famous-cookie-face-match-wally-amos-got-his-hand-his-name-back-game.html. Amos struggled to keep up with the brands rapid growth. Uncle Noname, however, foundered because of debt and problems with its contracted manufacturers. In 1999, Keebler approached Amos to help promote Famous Amos, and he happily agreed. In 1980, the hat and shirt Wally wore on the early packaging of Famous Amos cookies were placed in the Collection of Advertising History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Amos's fourth book, Watermelon Magic: Seeds of Wisdom, Slices of Life, was published the same year.
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