At 17, after receiving a box of his drawings back from Disney with a Mickey Mouse masthead rejection letter as well as numerous rejection letters from The Saturday Evening Post, Holland traveled by bus to Chicago where he found odd jobs, including sweeping the floor of a tattoo parlor.
When Walt was 17 years old, he faced rejection after sending his artwork to Disney and The Saturday Evening Post. He responded by traveling to Chicago, where he took on temporary jobs, including cleaning the floor of a tattoo parlor.