Background
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.
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Harold Nathan Braunhut
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Braunhut used comic book advertisements to sell an assortment of quirky products. He held 195 patents for various products, many of which have become cultural icons, including:
X-Ray Specs - whose advertisements claim that the wearer can see through clothing and flesh. The product has appealed to generations of curious adolescents.
Amazing Sea-Monkeys - which were tiny brine shrimp that came to life when water was added.
Sales took an upswing when comic book illustrator Joe Orlando drew comic book ads showing the humanized Sea-Monkeys enjoying life in their underwater fantasy world. Billions of the tiny creatures have been sold over the years and have generated fan websites, a television series, and a video game.
Astronaut John Glenn took 400 million "Amazing Sea-Monkeys" into space with him in 1998. Crazy Crabs - which were simply hermit crabs
Amazing Hair-Raising Monsters - a card with a printed monster that would grow "hair" (mineral crystals, actually) when water was added
Invisible Goldfish - non-existent fish that were guaranteed to remain permanently invisible
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 (030 m) of water.
Braunhut also set up a wildlife conservation area in Maryland.
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 lieutenant".
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Born
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Died
November 28, 2003 (aged 77) -
Nationality
American