{{short description|American businessman}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Sam Farber | image = | caption = | birth_date = November 16, 1924 | birth_place = New York City | birth_name = | death_date = June 16, 2013 | death_place = | education = B.A. Harvard University | occupation = Businessman | known_for = | children = 4 | spouse = Joan Levine (divorced)<br> Betsey Wells Kriegsman | father = | family = | website = }}
'''Samuel Farber''' (November 16, 1924 – June 16, 2013) was an American industrial designer and businessman.
Farber and his son, John Farber, co-founded OXO, a manufacturer of kitchen utensils and housewares.<ref name="upi">{{cite news|title=Samuel Farber, developer of kitchen utensils, dies at 88 |url=http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2013/06/22/Samuel-Farber-developer-of-kitchen-utensils-dies-at-88/UPI-69701371918952/ |work=United Press International |date=June 22, 2013 |accessdate=6 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|first=Margalit|last=Fox|title=Sam Farber, Creator of Oxo Utensils, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/business/sam-farber-creator-of-oxo-utensils-dies-at-88.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 21, 2013 |accessdate=6 July 2013}}</ref> Farber is credited with revolutionizing the kitchen utensil industry by developing and introducing a line of utensils with plastic-coated black handles through OXO.<ref name="upi" /> While more expensive than traditional utensils, the new soft, black handled utensils proved to be a success with consumers.<ref name="upi" /><ref name="nytimes" />
==Early life== Sam Farber was born on November 16, 1924, in New York City, though he was raised in nearby Yonkers, New York,<ref name=nytimes/> the son of Rose (née Winograd) and Louis Farber.<ref name=Louis>{{Cite news|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= Louis Farber of Hallandale, Fla., a founder and former president of the Sheffield Silver Company and Farber Brothers in New York City, died Sunday in White Plains Hospital. He was 90 years old. |newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 7, 1976 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/07/archives/louis-farber.html |via=}}</ref> His father founded the Sheffield Silver Company and Farber Brothers, which sold serving ware; and served as the president of the Jewish Community Center of Yonkers.<ref name=Louis/> He had one brother, Israel Farber.<ref name=Louis/> His uncle, Simon Farber, founded Farberware, which manufactures kitchen appliances and cookware.<ref name=upi/>
Farber served in North Africa and Turkey during World War II as a member of the Army Air Forces.<ref name=upi/> He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University in 1946.<ref name=upi/>
==Career== ===Copco=== In 1960, Farber founded Copco, which manufactured enamel-coated, cast iron cookware.<ref name=upi/> He sold Copco in 1982, largely retiring from the industry at the time of the sale.<ref name=upi/>
===OXO=== Farber founded OXO as a result of improvements he made to an everyday vegetable peeler.<ref name=upi/> While vacationing in a rented home in southern France, his wife, Betsy Farber, who suffered from arthritis, was trying to peel apples, which proved difficult using a peeler with a standard design.<ref name=upi/><ref name=nytimes/> The difficulties presented by available peelers (and their handles) sparked an idea for Sam for a more inclusive design. He and his son, John, hired Smart Design, an industrial design firm based in New York City, with whom they created a new product line of kitchen utensils fitted with soft plastic-coated black handles, which made them easier to hold and utilize, and more aesthetically appealing than other utensils.<ref>Cagan, J., and Vogel, C. (2002) ''Creating Breakthrough Products'', Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 14–18.</ref>
Farber unveiled the new line at the Gourmet Products Show in San Francisco, California, in 1990.<ref name=nytimes/> He named his company "OXO" for its "backward, upside-down and vertical graphic symmetry."<ref name=nytimes/> Farber's OXO products were more expensive than competitors', but the line proved a hit with consumers, who were willing to pay more for the new, easier-to-use utensils.<ref name=nytimes/>
The Farber family sold OXO to General Housewares Corporation in 1992. OXO is currently owned by Helen of Troy Limited, as of 2013.<ref name=upi/>
===Mario Batali products=== Sam and John Farber later created a line of products sold by chef Mario Batali.<ref name=upi/>
===Boards=== An art collector, Farber served on the board of directors for the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan.<ref name=upi/>
==Personal life== Farber was a longtime resident of Manhattan but lived in Lexington, Massachusetts, during his later years.<ref name=nytimes/>
Farber was married twice. His first marriage to Joan Levine<ref>{{Cite magazine|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= obituaries - Sam Farber - IIT Institute of Design Board of Overseers |page=42|magazine=Illinois Institute of Technology Magazine|date=Fall 2013 |url= https://magazine.iit.edu/sites/magazine/files/field_uploads/issue/pdfs/fall-2013.pdf |accessdate=|archive-url=| archive-date=}}</ref> ended in divorce;<ref name=Kriegsman>{{Cite news|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= Mrs. Kriegsman, Architect, Is Wed |newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 17, 1985 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/17/style/mrs-kriegsmanarchitect-is-wed.html |via=}}</ref> they had two sons, John Farber (born c. 1976, married in 1996 to Wendyll Brown)<ref name=Brady>{{Cite news|first=Lois Smith |last=Brady |authorlink= |title= VOWS; Wendyll Brown and John Farber |newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 18, 1996 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/18/style/vows-wendyll-brown-and-john-farber.html |via=}}</ref> and Thomas Farber,<ref name=nytimes/> a criminal court judge in New York.<ref name=Brady/> In 1985, he married Betsey Wells Kriegsman, an architect, in a nondenominational ceremony in New York City;<ref name=Kriegsman/> he has two stepchildren from her previous marriage, Mark Kriegsman and Sue Kriegsman.<ref name=nytimes/>
==Death==
Farber died in East Meadow, New York of complications from a fall on June 16, 2013, at the age of 88.<ref name=upi/>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Farber, Sam}} Category:1924 births Category:2013 deaths Category:American industrial designers Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American company founders Category:Harvard College alumni Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Category:Businesspeople from Lexington, Massachusetts Category:Businesspeople from Manhattan Category:People from Yonkers, New York Category:Deaths from falls