Finn H. Magnus*

Finn Magnus was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1907, but moved to Copenhagen with his family in 1911. At age 8, Magnus sold newspapers on streetcars. By 12, he employed other neighborhood children to work for his bike-cleaning service. At 16, Magnus noticed a demand for high-quality Swedish sweaters in Denmark and became the exclusive Danish representative for a Swedish sweater manufacturer. In one month, he earned enough to pay for his passage to the United States.

Magnus arrived at New York in 1925 with only $25 in his pocket and unable to speak a word of English. His first job in the United States was as a stevedore on the docks. He later became an elevator operator and then a student at the Ford Motor Company plant, where he picked up ideas for mass production. After 15 years of working at various companies, and because German-made harmonicas were impossible to obtain during World War II, he formed Magnus Harmonica Corporation in 1944.

Within eight years, his company had established itself as one of the country's leading musical toy producers, developing the electric reed organ and the plastic harmonica. His mass production techniques opened the market for many toys and instruments.