![Mickey Mouse tablet from 1930](https://i0.wp.com/disneydiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mickey-tablet.jpg?resize=780%2C470&ssl=1)
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Here’s the first Mickey Mouse piece of merchandise
While in a New York hotel lobby in 1929 a man approached Walt Disney with an offer.
The man was producing children’s writing tablets and wanted to place Mikey Mouse on the cover. He offered Disney $300 to feature Mickey on the tablets. For perspective, $300 from 1929 would be worth $5,352.79 today.
That doesn’t seem like a lot, even for a startup. So, why did he take the money? As Walt Disney later recalled: “As usual, Roy and I needed the money, so I took the three hundred.”
The writing tablet kicked off the Mickey merchandising. Roy Disney later signed with New York-based George Borgfeldt & Company and the first figures and toys started being produced.
![Mickey Mouse tablet from 1930](https://i0.wp.com/disneydiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mickey-tablet.jpg?resize=780%2C1262&ssl=1)