OXO Jar Opener

Object Details

OXO

Description

The triangular-shaped head of this tool fits over jar and bottle lids of different sizes. Its stainless steel teeth, which line one edge of the head, are designed to grip the lid firmly. When properly engaged, a pull or push of the handle opens the jar. This jar opener, with its large, non-slip grip, was part of a set of OXO tools used for many years by Elsa Edwards, who developed arthritis but continued to enjoy cooking.

The idea behind OXO Good Grips kitchen tools came to Sam Farber while on vacation. He observed his wife Betsy, who suffered from arthritis, struggling with metal handled kitchen tools. He made a few models of new handle styles and, after returning home to New York, the Farbers worked with the design firm Smart Design to develop OXO Good Grips.

Introduced in 1990, the first Good Grips implements featured contoured rubber handles with flexible “fins” modeled after the grips on bicycle handlebars. These handles were featured in the original line of fifteen products including a vegetable peeler, can opener, and an orange zester. OXO products follow the Universal Design philosophy in which designers take into consideration the greatest variety of needs in order to create products that are usable by as many people as possible. Even the OXO name was chosen with these design principles in mind because it reads the same horizontally, vertically, upside down, or backwards. OXO ads emphasized the comfort and ease of the handles, telling customers to “Hold the tools the way you want to hold them, not some way you’re forced to hold them.”

ID Number

2012.0196.02

accession number

2012.0196

catalog number

2012.0196.02

Object Name

jar opener

Physical Description

plastic (overall material)

metal (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 9 in x 5 in x 1 in; 22.86 cm x 12.7 cm x 2.54 cm

See more items in

Home and Community Life: Domestic Life

Food

Exhibition

Food: Transforming the American Table

Exhibition Location

National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

Subject

Food Culture

Household Tools and Equipment

Record ID

nmah_1427231

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-a433-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa