Walter suffers a career setback

Walter suffers a career setback

Suddenly, in 1937, things turned dramatically downhill for Walter Ruby. According to Stanley, Sidney Kessler squeezed him out of American Spirits.

Then said Stan, “For 5-6 months, he sat home, not sure what to do with himself. He thought about selling soda to drug stores and down in the basement, deciding to make a perfume. Then he invented a pen that included a corkscrew and blade. He found a manufacturer to sell it. I believe it was the Schenley Liquor Company. I saw a check for $50,000 he received for that.”

Walter was clearly still a player after his firing; he retained an office at 49 West 49th Street in Rockefeller Center.