Wallace ‘Wally’ Amos, the founder of the famous yellow-boxed Amos Cookies, has died on Tuesday. He breathed his last at his family home in Honolulu, Hawaii. The family reports the cause of death as complications arising due to dementia. He is an inspirational American icon for the younger generation, especially African Americans.
Early Life
Wally Amos was born on 1st July 1936 in Tallahassee, Florida. He had a rough and financially unstable childhood. To save money, Wally often walked four miles to school and back. His parents divorced when he was only twelve. He then moved to New York Harlem with his aunt Della Bryant.
His aunt loved him a lot. She baked her special chocolate chip cookies for him frequently. This started his love affair with these chocolate chip cookies. In an interview, he said,’ I have a fetish for chocolate chip cookies; it is more than a fetish. I think it’s bordering on being fanatical.” Little did Wally know then that these cookies would make him an icon. He worked as a teenager, shining shoes and delivering newspapers to help with finances at home.
Amos’s Life as a Young Adult
Amos dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Air Force. He completed his GED during his service there. He spent four years in this service. Upon discharge, Amos attended a secretarial school and learnt shorthand, typing and accounting skills. His first job after the U.S. Air Force was at the stockroom of Sak’s Fifth Avenue. He did well and was able to support his family.
In the 1960s, Wally got a job as a clerk in the mail room of William Morris Talent Agency. The higher-ups noticed him because of his work ethic and social nature. He got promoted within a year and became the first-ever Black Agent. He booked performers like The Supremes, Simon& Garfunkel, Marvin Gaye and Reddy.
He started his management agency and left William Morris to manage a South African trumpeter, Hugh Masekela. He moved his family to California for this job, but Masakela dropped Wally when he reached California. He continued to struggle to make a living as a theatrical manager.
Amos Cookies Are Born
During this difficult time, Wally started baking Chocolate chip cookies as a stress reliever, using a recipe similar to one his aunt used. He started taking these cookies to meetings, and everyone loved them. People would tell him to sell these cookies, but Wally was sceptical.
By 1974, Amos realised his theatrical management company would never give him any results.
He decided to take a risk and start a cookie business. He borrowed money from friends like Marvin Gaye, Helen Reddy and her husband. The famous Amos Cookie Company started from a small shop on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, in 1975.
The Wally Amos Path to Success
Amos Cookies took off the way they did because of two main things: the ingredients and Wally Amos himself. Amos Cookies were ‘all natural.’ He used ingredients like semisweet chocolate chips, real butter and vanilla. Amos never shared the exact recipe. The other thing that made his cookies different was the size. Most cookies of that time were big; Amos Cookies were bite-sized. They were the perfect size. Eat as much as you want, and there will be no waste. They were also preservative-free.
The second reason Amos Cookies became famous was Wally Amos himself. Amos promoted his brand as an entrepreneur, betting on this venture to make it big. He used his show business knowledge in the cookie business, too. Wally Amos put his personality into his brand. He became the face of the brand. His social nature, Panama hat and shirts were as much a part of the cookies as the natural ingredients. He called himself” the face that launched a thousand chips.” He even wrote a book by that name.
Amos Cookies started thriving. He made more than $3000,000 in the first year. The business made more than six tons of cookies and more than $4 million in sales two years after launch. Finally, Amos got the success he had been looking for all this while. He became a famous public personality, appearing in Macy’s parade from 1975 – 1981. Wally also appeared on TV shows such as ‘Jeffersons’ and ‘Taxi’. Much later, he also played a cameo in “The Office’. By 1982, Amos Cookies was making $12 million in sales.
Losing Amos Cookies
Wally Amos needed help keeping up with its growing problems as the business expanded. He started facing a cash crunch problem. Amos Cookies started reporting losses even as sales kept up. He had to sell the controlling share of his business to Bass Brothers of Texas for $1.1 million. Eventually, he lost his place in the company by 1989. The Ferrero Group of Italy now manages Amos Cookies.
Wally Amos: Mission Literacy
Wally faced a lot of struggles in his early life and had to even drop out of school. He knew the importance of education, more so when his business expanded and took off. His mother was illiterate, having received no education as a child. Amos had a roomful of books at a store in Honolulu.
Every Saturday, he would wear a colourful hat and read books to the children. He became a passionate advocate for literacy. In 1979, he joined the Literacy Volunteers of America and was its spokesperson till 2002. He is also an author and has written eight books.
President George H.W. Bush awarded him a National Literacy Award in 1991. The President told Wally Amos that his greatest contribution to society was not cookies but that he inspired people to read.
Wally Amos: The Chocolate Chip Doyen
Wally Amos has left a lasting legacy. Growing up poor in the South, he faced many struggles. His smile, Panama Hat and shirts will forever be remembered as a part of Amos Cookie’s history. He was a man who persisted.
