Performo Toy Company

The Performo Toy Company was established in 1925 by Rene D. Grove, in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He began manufacturing wooden toys in his residence on North Spring Street. His business expanded rapidly, soon recruiting over 25 employees, and still having trouble filling demands for their popular toys.

The company had a catalog of around 40 different toys, all of them distributed by the George Borgfeldt Company, including its most popular doll, a black and white mouse named "Micky" (US Patent #D70,840, received on August 17, 1926).

The Mickey Mouse Vs Micky Mouse debate

Mickey mouse is one of the most loved cartoon characters in the history of animation industry.

The similarities between both mice has led many to believe that Walt Disney stole his most successful idea from the Performo Toy Company. Apparently, the wooden mouse was very popular in New York City (where Performo's distributor was located) back in 1928. Coincidently, at about the same time, Disney thought of the idea for his animation studio's new character and began drafting cartoons, which then aired as shorts, padding the time between one film and the next, and were extremely popular. Other shorts included news reels, which showed film of events from around the world, much as does a nightly news broadcast in the hay-day of television broadcasting. Such news clips are now ubiquitous on the internet from thousands of sources.

There is a well known legend in Middletown about how Performo Toy Company sued The Walt Disney Company, which included some coverage in the local paper. A conspiracy theory might have arisen from this story, however, History Detectives, a television program on PBS, [http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/pdf/302_mousetoy.pdf conducted an extensive investigation on the topic] . The historians and researchers of the PBS program conducted a nation wide search finding that there are no records nor evidence of any legal action between the two parties. Inquires to Disney historians and archivists, resulted in a letter stating that no such action had ever existed between the companies. Hence the legend is dismissed as local gossip made urban myth.

Part of the program showed that Performo's Micky while very close to Walt Disneys, actually grew more that way after the Cartoon's success. Performo's Micky Mouse, without the "E" suddenly developed Red shorts with white buttons, as was shown by Mickey collector who had both products in his multi-room collection. The program's investigating historian concluded that it was a series of generic mice that featured in "Felix the Cat" (1922), "Milton Mouse" from "Aesop's Film Fables" (1920) or "Ignatz Mouse" from "Krazy Kat" (1914), which provided the inspiration for Mickey Mouse. When viewed side by side and in sequence of appearance, an evolution of the many mice in cartoons of the era is striking, if not conclusive.

Further, in 1932 the sales of Mickey Mouse toy paraphanelia out-grossed the revenues for the films themselves, the first time that happened in the experience of Hollywood. At nearly the same time Performo came onto hard times despite it's rapid growth and filed for bankruptcy in 1933. The PBS historian concludes it became a victim of the depression like many other toy companies and other luxury goods producers while the movie tie-in enabled Disney's nascent toys and novelties business to weather the hard times of the Great Depression.

Bankruptcy

In the July 15, 1933 edition of the Middletown Gazette, the Performo Toy Company announced they were filing for bankruptcy. It is believed that the Great Depression forced them to padlock their doors.

ee also

*Mickey Mouse
*The Walt Disney Company

External links

* [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=32&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PALL&s1=19260817.PD.&OS=ISD/19260817&RS=ISD/19260817 United States Patent and Trademark Office, United States Patent - D70,840, Issue Date - August 17, 1926, Current U.S. Class - D21/585, Animal Toy, Filed by Rene D. Grove]
* [http://www.middletownborough.com/Community/history/micky_1926.asp Middletown Borough Community - History - Micky Mouse Patented 8/17/26]
* [http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/302_mousetoy.html PBS - History Detectives - Case 302 - Mouse Toy]
* [http://www.antiquetoycollections.info/products.asp?cat=69 Toy resource guide]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3631466 BBC.co.uk - Micky vs Mickey]
* [http://www.centralpa.org/archives/04augcentralstories.html Central PA Magazine - Country Mouse, City Mouse]
* Performo Toy Collector - Andrew Urwin - [e-mail] email me for any information or if you are in possession of any Performo Toys. Thanks

Books and other media references

* "Broken Toy: A Man's Dream, A Company's Mystery" by Craig L. Andrews. ISBN 1403303924 - resource book tracing origin of Micky Mouse and Mickey Mouse. [http://worldsinmind.com/pagel2a.htm Book Press Release]