The American Spectator

When Sid was about seven or eight, roughly, the family moved back to New York. Somehow, and I am not sure how, Sid became an ardent Marxist. He sold copies of The Daily Worker, the Communist Party newspaper, on the streets and in the subways.

He joined the Young Communists and had street brawls with rival factions. I don’t tell this to embarrass Sid. Sid was proud of his street fighting youth and spoke about it often, even though he became a Republican.

But there were many sides to Sid. In addition to young political agitator, he was an artist from day one. He could capture a man’s or a woman’s face with just a few strokes of a pencil and he retained that skill all until the very end.

He was also a designer and designed school bow ties and hair ribbons with school colors for his high school and his junior high in Brooklyn and then set up networks of other sales boys and girls to sell similar items to nearby schools.

Sid was an artist and a political kid, but also a businessman from childhood and a fine one.

When Sid was a teenager, he dropped out of high school to work and to attend the Art Students’ League, based on his art work. This was a rare tribute for a young Jewish boy with no social connections.

While he was in art school, trying to figure out how to pay his way, a friend suggested that Sid work part-time on trimming windows in stores.

The results were magic. Sid could make a window look better than anyone had dreamed possible.

From this, a career was born that led to affluence at a very early age. Sid persuaded his scientist brother George to leave his scientific work and join to make Dauman Displays.

It was a thriving business and then Sid had an even better concept. He would make display cases that showcased cosmetics and fragrances, sold them to customers, and at the same time showed the clerks and the store owners where the items were and how much was in inventory.

The effect was fantastic. Sid’s and George’s work could allow much quicker sales and much better control over inventory.

The business was a huge success and by the time Sid was in his late 20s or early 30s, he had a major business, with studios and factories in New York, eventually growing to include Los Angeles and London.

This was Sid Dauman the artist and designer and businessman and visionary. This was the Sid Dauman of the world of cosmetics and fragrances.

But there was another side of Sid in which his artistry and his genius shone even more brightly. That was Sid the husband, father, and friend. Sid Dauman came out of the chute a talented, brilliant artist and businessman.

But he made himself into William Powell, Clark Gable, made himself into an F. Scott Fitzgerald character, a larger than life man of incredible elegance.