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
I'll Say She Is themselves effectively banned from the major vaudeville circuits owing to a dispute with E. F. Albee, and had failed in an attempt to produce their own shows on the alternate Shubert circuit. The show included some Marx Brothers routines and musical specialties from their years in vaudeville, incorporated into a thin narrative about a rich girl looking for thrills, as presented to her by a succession of male suitors. The libretto and lyrics were written by Will B. Johnstone, who later co-wrote the classic Marx Brothers films "Monkey Business" (1931) and "Horse Feathers" (1932) with music by his brother, Tom