I started at Hallmark in 1979 as a “flat artist.” I was drawing and painting designs for gift wrap and greeting cards and stickers. Stickers were a big deal. And we were asked to design Muppet stickers, so they sent us to the Muppet Studios in New York for a couple of days.

Jim Henson was in England at the time, but we got to see his office with all of the Muppet sculptures on the wall. And I got to hold the original Kermit! I felt like I was in OZ, and I got to peek behind the curtain.

We got to work in their shop and learn how to make puppets. And that’s where my love for puppets was born. I went home and made my own puppets. I even made some for my church. And I had a chance to go back to the Muppet Studios in 1989, so I brought one of the puppets I had made. He was a marionette named Dr. Pill. I brought it not as a way to say, “Hey, look what I did!” I brought it with me as a way to say, “Thank you for the positive influence you’ve had on my life.”

See photos of Ken in 1979 with the original Kermit and in 1989 sitting with Dr. Pill in Jim Henson’s office. And see a photo of Ken in 1979 – shortly after starting at Hallmark – holding up his company ID outside of the Hallmark store on Main Street in Disneyland. And then a photo of Ken 35 years later in the same spot.