Harold von Braunhut

Harold Nathan Braunhut (March 31, 1926 – November 28, 2003), also known as Harold von Braunhut, was an American mail-order marketer and inventor, most famous as the creator and seller of both the Amazing Sea-Monkeys and the X-Ray Specs.[1] His grandfather Tobias Cohn was head of the T.Cohn Toy Company until the early 1940s.

Personal life

Braunhut was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 31, 1926. He grew up in New York City and resided there until the 1980s, when he moved to Maryland.[2] According to a Washington Post report, he was raised "as Harold Nathan Braunhut, a Jew"[3] - notable in light of his later association with white supremacist groups. He added "von" to his name some time in the 1950s for a more Germanic sound.[4]

His first marriage was to Charlotte Braunhut. His second marriage was to actress Yolanda Signorelli, who took an active role in marketing Sea-Monkeys. He had a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Jeanette LaMothe.

Harold von Braunhut died on November 28, 2003 at his home in Indian Head, Maryland, following an accidental fall.[5]

Business activities

Braunhut used comic book advertisements to sell an assortment of quirky products. He held 195 patents[1] for various products, many of which have become cultural icons, including:[4]

Braunhut also raced motorcycles under the name "The Green Hornet", and managed a showman whose act consisted of diving 40 feet (12 m) into a children's wading pool filled with only 1 foot (0.30 m) of water.[1] Braunhut also set up a wildlife conservation area[7] in Maryland.

Racial views

The Washington Post stated in a report that, despite his Jewish ethnicity, he had a close association with white supremacist groups, buying firearms for a Ku Klux Klan faction and regularly attending the Aryan Nations annual conference.[3] In a 1988 interview with the Seattle Times, he referred to the "inscrutable, slanty Korean eyes" of Korean shop owners and was quoted as saying, "You know what side I'm on. I don't make any bones about it."[8]

References

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