Gummo Marx a number of writers, and was well respected as a businessman. He rarely required contracts, believing that if the people he represented liked his work, they would stay with him; and if not, would seek representation elsewhere. Around the time he left his brothers' Vaudeville act, Marx applied for a patent for a clothes packing rack. On October 28, 1919, Marx was granted patent US1320335A. Gummo may have received his nickname because he had a tendency to be sneaky backstage, creeping up on others like a "gumshoe" (detective). Another explanation cited by biographers and family members is that Milton, the
Harpo Marx fiction novella, "The Foreign Hand Tie" by Randall Garrett, a tale of telepathic spies which is full of references to the Marx Brothers and their films. (The title itself is a Marx-like pun on the dual ideas of a "foreign hand" and a style of neckwear known as a "four-in-hand tie.") In 1936, he was one of a number of performers and celebrities to appear as caricatures in the Walt Disney Production of "Mickey's Polo Team". Harpo was part of a team of polo-playing movie stars which included Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. His mount was an ostrich. Walt