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Amos!" Box 897Kailua, Hawaii 96734. In 1967, Amos decided to leave William Morris and launch his own talent agency. Born in Tallahassee, Fla., Amos moved to New York City at age 12 because of his parents divorce. Amos wrote multiple books about his experiences, including Man With No Name: Turn Lemons into Lemonade, The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched 1,000 Chips and The Power In You. Address: Office c/o Uncle Nonam Cookie Company, 984252 Pupuole St., Waipahu, HI 96797. He moved to New York Citys Harlem at age 12 to live with his Aunt Della. The man who once called himself the face that launched a thousand chips told Parade magazine of his new company: Its still methe best Wally Amos I can be., Amoss self-professed love affair with the chocolate chip cookie began in his childhood. Amos uprooted his second wife and newborn son and moved to Californiaand then Masakela dropped him. Amos told Newsweek that when he saw his completed storefront, he was overjoyed. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Two years after opening his first store in Los Angeles, Amos was at the helm of a large corporation, selling cookies as well as other "Famous Amos" paraphernalia, worldwide. Advertising Age (March 22, 1999): p. 6. "Amos, Wally [19][20][21] Amos currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina, where he is working on Aunt Della's Cookies.[21]. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. "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. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips. I have a fetish for chocolate chip cookies, Amos admitted in Ebony magazine. . The name I stopped at was Marvin Gaye. an agent and by 1974, he was looking for something new. This is where he introduced Los Angeles and the rest of the world to his sweetest star, "The Cookie." I think its bordering on being fanatical.. . However, in 1985, mismanagement forced Amos to gradually sell off parts of his company. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Carlsen, Clifford. Mr. Amos started the original Famous Amos Cookie Company with $25,000 from the singers Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy, celebrity friends he knew from his days as a talent agent. The episode is named "Famous Wally Amos: The Cookie King". Beaverton, Oregon 97077 They cant. U.S.A. Amos, Wally, and Camilla Denton. And he really, really cared about people.". Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Encyclopedia.com. But it was her recipes for life that sustain me to this day," he states on his website. His son Shawn called him a bearded, amped-up Willy Wonka whose mother used to beat him with an electrical cord, angry at Wallys fathers infidelities, their poverty, and at the structural strains of the Jim Crow South. Like any great star, the famous Wally Amos continued to reinvent himself, launching other baking ventures including Uncle Noname Gourmet Muffins (now Uncle Wally's Muffin Company) and The Cookie Kahuna. Thought is everything, love is everything. Ultimately, I started having cash flow problems. Toops, Diane. He spent the ensuing years working in the stock room at Saks Fifth Avenue, and in the mailroom at the prestigious William Morris Agency. . and bake, and it was she who gave Wally Amos his first chocolate chip cookie. His house had been reposed by the bank. 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.' He has written 10 books,[6] many of which have a self-help theme, including The Cookie Never Crumbles[7] and The Power in You. Black Enterprise (November 1992): p. 105. His treatsbaked at locations in Nutley, New Jersey and Van Nuys, Californiawere sold in chic department stores and at several outlets in the nations bigger cities. who always remained true to himself," worked in Tallahassee at the local gas company. Why did Wally Amos lose his company? By the early 1980s, Famous. . (February 23, 2023). . 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. [On-line] http://www.keebler.com (accessed on August 15, 2002). Astrological Sign: Cancer. Growing up poor in the segregated South, he faced adult responsibilities at an early age. "There's a really high awareness of chocolate chip cookies now, and that was created by me." Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/amos-wally-1937. "In the end he was a natural entertainer himself. "Famous Amos Gets its First National Push from Keebler." While Famous Amos soon lived up to its name, thriving for nearly a decade, the company's founder lost control of his business. Amos has three sons from his first two marriages, Shawn, Michael and Gregory. 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. He later said of the experience, "We certainly had no monetary wealth, but Aunt Della's home was always rich in the principles and qualities vital to a childs upbringing. All Rights Reserved. We are very proud of our Famous Amos cookies and believe were producing high-quality, great-tasting product, she said. Amos considered the Famous Amos cookies of the 1990s to be cheap knockoffs, which had neither the quality nor the taste of his original cookies. And I guarantee, youll experience both.. However, in 1985, mismanagement forced Amos to gradually sell off parts of his company. Then he hollers: " "Bye-bye, I'm out the door, you can look now!' I'll call you Famous Amos." With the help of a friend, Mr. Amos eventually got the house back. The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips. A True Story, Baldwin Hills, 'The Black Beverly Hills': The Life And Times Of The Community, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. The cookies now carried with them a line of paraphernalia for the "Famous Amos" fans who desired them: t-shirts, umbrellas, duffle bags, and "Famous Amos" jewelry. However, in 1985, mismanagement forced Amos to gradually sell off parts of his company. Education: Earned high school equivalency. Chicago: Nightingale-Conant, 1988. Masekela fired him, so Amos worked at his friend John Levy's entertainment firm. Within months, Amos had opened two more West Coast franchises, and the New York-based Bloomingdale's department store had begun selling the gourmet cookies. In 1999, Amos signed a deal with the new owner of Famous Amos, Keebler, to act as spokesperson. Amos said: "We were made to think, to be curious, to seek solutions, and not add to problems." Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with chocolate cookies and kaleidoscope skies. In 1967, Amos left William Morris and moved to Los Angeles, where he struggled to set up his own personal management company. After a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force, Amos returned to New York in 1957. ''It was just an uphill battle, looking to establish a new cookie company without having the resources and still in the minds of everybody being Famous Amos,'' he said. "He had a big block party for the opening of the store and every year at Christmas he'd have a big block party," Shawn recalls. 17678; December 20, 1993, pp. Public Company Karl Braun Drive His first job after the military was in the stockroom at Saks Fifth Avenue. Encyclopedia.com. Amos put together a packet for potential investors touting his product as though it was a Hollywood starlet. "Amos, Wally 1937 was originally published on He decided to take a chance with his cookies. In March of 1975, Wally Amos launched The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Store in Los Angeles. This is considered such a breakthrough that Famous Amos' shirt and straw hat are in the Smithsonian. The man beams. "He's the white sheep of the family. He began serving cookies to clients, inspired, depending on the account, by either Aunt Della or a back-of-package Nestle recipe. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. . He would throw his efforts into the cookies that had come to occupy so much of his time. I'm a promoter.". Similarly, why did Wally Amos lose his company? Wally Amos was a walking, breathing brand who couldnt seem to cash in on his own success. Why did Wally Amos lose his company? Mr. Amos was a rising star. [1] The narrative he established was that he was a talent manager who spent his whole life identifying and discovering new talent and the next big act that he discovered, that he was going to dedicate his career to, was 'The Cookie.'". He was the first black talent scout in America. The senior Wallace Amos, whom his son once described as a "good person . He had enormous enthusiasm for his products, and he used his boundless energy and personal popularity to promote them. WALLY AMOS IS IN THE CHEER business these days, on the lecture circuit, giving motivational talks, telling people, "You're a special person." "He worked with all the Motown acts, with the Temptations and Supremes," his son, musician Shawn Amos says. If you respect your customers as friends, they will respect you and support you in good times and bad times, he said. Baldwin Hills communities began with an Olympic village in 1932 and later became home to affluent Black families in L.A. Amos was born Wallace Amos Jr. on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. It filed for bankruptcy in 1996. Amos is also a serial entrepreneur. Amos and his cookie empire enjoyed a decade of success. "Profiting Through Self-Reliance." Amos, who turned 71 this month, is co-founder and shareholder of Uncle Wally's Muffin Co., whose products are found in 5,000 stores nationwide, including Costco and Wal-Mart. Amos tries to coax the pillow away from him. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan formally presented to Wally Amos the President's Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Following his parents' separation in 1948, Amos was sent to New York City to live with his Aunt Della, who often baked homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookies. As he wrote in his autobiography, he began slowly to console himself and his frustration by making chocolate-chip cookies in the style of his Aunt Della. To Wally, setbacks were burnt cookiessacrifices on the alter of carelessness. In nine books, hundreds of speeches, and countless baking metaphors, Wally pours half-full glasses. And Keebler was willing to let him use his name for his own business. He was reduced to calling his own cookie line Uncle Noname, and the business was struggling. When he sold Famous Amos in 1985, Wally Amos lost more than a company. His responsibilities were diminished to the point that he became no more than a spokesperson for the brand name. He worked dilligently, eventually becoming manager of the supply department at the ritzy store. . Im not a production guy. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? [8], In 1979, Amos' long-time friend and publicist John Rosica introduced him to Literacy Volunteers of America. They were saying I didnt even have the right to my own name, Amos said in Parade. 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. Muffins were really our savior, said Avignone, company president and chief executive. . Some cookies were too small. His entrepreneurial spirit in tact, Mr. Amos switched to a line of low-fat and fat-free muffins. Amos says the mistake he made with Famous Amos Cookies was not assembling a good management team. Around the time Wally lost ownership in his company, his career took perhaps its most remarkable turn. 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. The muffins, for instance, are a leading brand in Pathmark supermarkets in the New York area and are available nationally in stores like Costco warehouse clubs and Edwards supermarkets. 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. Wallace "Wally" Amos, Jr. (born July 1, 1936) is an American television personality, entrepreneur, and author from Tallahassee, Florida. When Wally Amos first developed Famous Amos cookies in 1975, the brand became one of the most unlikely success stories in food history. Amos said he told him: Im a cookie man, but if you can make a good muffin, I can sell it. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. That means everything to us.. ", Famous Amos opened on March 10, 1975, as a small, father-and-son operation, "He and I were together," Shawn says. This simple, affectionate act had lasting consequences in the life of the young boy, who eventually went on to make his living from fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. //