Where did Jim get all the money?

[D'Snowth]

You know, when I read these supposed urban legends about some of the lucrative things Jim did in the early days of the Muppets, such as buying out the entire inventory of "Wacky Stacks" to supply the Muppets with their eyes for years to come, or stock piling the specific fabrics and material he liked to use for the puppets and everything makes me wonder, if all of that is true, then where in the world did he get all the money to do so? I know he eventually became a very wealthy fellow and all, but in those early days, and knowing how puppetry is NOT an inexpensive art form, how was he able to afford to do said things? Caroll Spinney even said that in those days, Jim wasn't too knowledgable about money and salaries and stuff (hence why he made so little money that first year on SST), so it just makes a body curious to know how exactly a man who was building up a company came into significant amount of money to be able to stock pile such stuff.

 

[Redsonga]

I'm sure it was a matter of being in the right place in the right time and meeting the right people all mixing together. I'm not sure about the money part but I think to start with he was just finding parts for free and then using the money he made from his few muppets in the old ads to start the ball rolling?

 

[anytimepally]

In the early days, the puppets do appear to have been a bit less expensive, like Wilkins and Wontkins for example. And Cookie Monster is basically a torn up piece of shag carpeting, right?

And there were a lot of commercials in those early days that brought in money. I mean, look at all these commercials: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_commercials. Even if you're not getting paid a whole lot, it adds up after a while.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

To me it doesn't really matter how he got all the money. However he did it, it obviously paid off literally later down the road.

 

[dwmckim]

I really probably shouldn't say anything - after all this is pretty Top Secret stuff and one of those "darker chapters" in Henson history - but i think enough time has passed and the very fact that the question was posted is indicative that people are genuinely interested in knowing about stuff like this so...

One of the advantages of being a puppet builder was having the ability to create faux body parts on a massive scale. Now combine that with the fact that The Tooth Fairy pays someone for a tooth left under one's pillow...well you can connect the dots and remember you didn't hear it from me.