[1] Kaplan was known to possess the largest collection of boxing memorabilia, consisting of millions of pieces including newspaper articles, books, and photographs, stemming back from the 19th century.

His mother struggled to make ends meet as a seamstress, but was forced to place the children in an orphanage at a young age.

Hank Kaplan spent much of his early years growing up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York (HOA), also known as the Academy.

[1] Kaplan and his siblings later moved back with their mother during his early teenage years, and she supported the children by working as a seamstress.

Kaplan became interested in boxing beginning from his early years in Brooklyn, after he suffered a bloody nose in his childhood from a fight with another smaller child at Camp Wakitan in upstate New York.

Kaplan joined the U.S. Coast Guard in his early 20s, and served during World War II, as he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his idol at the time, Jack Dempsey.

He spent time in the Coast Guard disinfecting ships, after learning skills about chemical warfare and how to prevent the spread of contamination.

Following this, he worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he, along with 4 other scientists, went to Indonesia where they spent nine weeks in attempt to battle a severe outbreak of Bubonic Plague.

For a short period of time, he co-promoted fights with Ramiro Ortiz, however, his passion for boxing history took over his love for promoting.