It was a potato peeler that brought business executive Sam Farber out of retirement and into a new career 10 years ago.
He and his wife, Betsey, both gourmet cooks, had rented a house in southern France with the idea of enjoying cooking and entertaining. But watching his wife, who had mild arthritis, struggle with gripping a potato peeler, Farber began to wonder if there wasn't something easier for her and millions of other arthritis sufferers.
"We decided we wanted to do something about the bad design throughout kitchen utensils," recalled Farber, founder of Copco kitchenware, known for its handsome enamel tea kettles. "Why couldn't there be comfortable tools that are easy to use, not just for arthritis victims but for everybody?"
What he did was create a line of kitchenware that became a touchstone for applying ergonomic design to everyday objects. His first line of OXO Good Grip utensils with fat black handles epitomized the principle of universal design--the idea that objects designed for the impaired can benefit the able-bodied as well.
It was an approach starting to take hold in the 1990s public consciousness, as the Americans With Disabilities Act began mandating design changes in public buildings and transportation. Farber brought it down to the simplest level with his first peelers and paring knives, which had undergone rigorous testing for usefulness.
OXO's influence on the housewares field has been considerable. It was the first to apply universal design considerations to a mundane kitchen tool that had been considered almost disposable. Today if you look at just about any housewares product--even a bottle of Tide--the companies are trying to make it easier to hold and use. Other kitchen brands such as Ecko Housewares and Good Cook offer their versions of ergonomic utensils.
"These were little items that had no batteries, no moving parts, but they provided a model that has been moving up the food chain ever since," said designer and gerontologist Patricia Moore, who worked on the initial OXO line. "Sam understood the duality of creating--that you need both form and function."
The effect of OXO, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, on the design world was recognized last year when the OXO line, which now includes 500 items including teakettles, garden tools and cleaning brushes, was given a Designs of the Decade award by the Industrial Society of America.
