With the great success of Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney knew Mickey was destined for merchandise superstardom and began seeking a manufacturer. Certainly Mickey would prove profitable, as there was already bootleg Mickey merchandise on the market. Walt was particularly interested in teaming up with George Borgfeldt & Co. The Borgfeldt importing company was founded in 1881 by George Borgfeldt, who passed away in 1903, and the company carried on after their leader’s death, finding success with, amongst other things, manufacturing Felix the Cat merchandise. It was on this day in 1930 that Roy O. Disney signed a contract with Borgfeldt’s company to manufacture “figures and toys of various materials, embodying designs of comic mice known as Minnie and Mickey Mouse, appearing in copyright motion pictures.” The Disney staff designed their products for Borgfeldt, and Walt, as in any of his work, was always deeply involved.
