Some of my earliest memories are connected to my family’s business, Mott’s Miniatures, in Buena Park, California.
It was a museum that depicted the history of America in miniature. We even had displays that were featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.
As a young boy, not even 10, I remember getting a rag and bottle of cleaner to clean the glass showcases. To this day, the smell of Windex will take me back to those days.
I was raised to take over the family business
From as far back as I can remember, the family had been raising me to take over their legacy.
I remember conventions in San Francisco, Louisville, and Miami. There was even one trip we took to Orlando when my mom and aunt were invited to attend the grand opening of the Toy Soldier store at Disney World. And it was kind of fun. In the 1970s, not a lot of elementary school kids had ever flown on an airplane.
The family worked for years to establish their business. For over a decade, they had a traveling exhibit where they were paid to display their collection. In 1958, when they moved to Knott’s, my grandmother worked full time at the museum, and my mom, aunt, and grandpa kept their jobs and worked at the museum.
That was their choice; this was their passion. But it wasn’t mine. My sacrifice came in the form of responsibility to the family and not being able to pursue my own life or career.
Every time I tried to have my own life, the needs of the family always pulled me back. At one point in his 80’s, my grandpa was working 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It resulted in his being hospitalized with pneumonia and losing the use of a lung, so he could no longer work full-time. This was the moment when the family asked me to step in on a full-time basis.
They rejected an offer of millions of dollars
In 1992, Knott’s Berry Farm Park wanted to buy their business and offered a generous buyout of millions of dollars, but my folks rejected it out of hand.
With contract negotiations at an impasse, the park canceled its contract. After 34 years, the family business had to leave its once permanent home. I wish my folks had taken that buyout; it would have set them up for the rest of their lives. But they were emotionally attached to their business and couldn’t see someone else owning it.
I closed the museum in 1998 and sold the collection at auction. A few years later, my mom passed away, and I sold the last remaining pieces she’d clung to.
I’ve kept a few small things: a few pieces of miniature furniture that my grandfather hand-carved, a frame containing my grandma’s original Cracker Jack prizes from the early 1900s, and some things that my mom and aunt made. But the famous Mott’s Miniature Collection is no more.
I felt as though I had been able to keep their dream alive. Some form of their business remained open as long as my folks were alive.
I didn’t want to burden my child with this business
Though I had made tremendous sacrifices for the family, I was fortunate to have achieved most of my goals. I served in the military twice; for a time, I had a career as a corporate executive. I got to be a father and now grandfather, and I retired early and can now travel.
I was also able to achieve another goal I’d set for myself the day I learned that I was going to be a father, making sure that my son would not be saddled with the burden of the family business.
I kept my parents’ dreams alive for a long time and kept them from being destitute and homeless. My folks wanted their legacy to live on with me at the helm. I wasn’t able to make that happen. But their legacy was not mine. Their dreams were never mine.
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