bookofjoe

Donald Goerke, Creator of SpaghettiOs, Dies at 83

Margalit Fox's lyrical obituary in the January 14, 2010 New York Times pointed out that he also created Campbell's Chunky soup line.

The Times piece follows.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Donald Goerke, Creator of SpaghettiOs, Dies at 83

Donald Goerke [top], a Campbell Soup Company executive whose nonlinear approach to pasta resulted in SpaghettiOs, died Sunday at his home in Delran, N.J. He was 83.

The cause was heart failure, his son David said.

Introduced in 1965, SpaghettiOs has been a fixture in the American pantry ever since. Its memorable advertising jingle — “Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs!” — sung by the pop singer Jimmie Rodgers, is indelibly lodged in the public consciousness. More than 150 million cans of SpaghettiOs are sold each year, a spokeswoman for Campbell, based in Camden, N.J., said Wednesday.

Mr. Goerke, who worked for Campbell from 1955 until he retired in 1990, also created the company’s Chunky soup line.

Donald Edward Goerke was born in Waukesha, Wis., on Aug. 8, 1926. (The family name is pronounced GUR-key.) He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from what was then Carroll College in Waukesha and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin.

Besides his son David, Mr. Goerke is survived by another son, Brian; a daughter, Ann Nassoura; a brother, Fred; and seven grandchildren. His wife, the former June Marie Uthus, died in 2008.

Mr. Goerke was a marketing manager with Franco-American, then a division of Campbell, when he was asked to supervise the development of a new canned pasta for children.

The shape was crucial on two counts. The first was durability: it had to withstand canning and reheating. The second was damage control: long pasta and young children mix dangerously, with child, chair and walls ending up beribboned with dripping strands.

A simple “O,” Mr. Goerke realized, would solve both problems. Its stable shape allowed a thinner strand of pasta to be used, making the reheated product less gummy. It also fit tidily in the bowl of a spoon.

Shapes considered and rejected by Mr. Goerke’s team included baseballs, cowboys, spacemen and stars.

Boring Sticker

Silkscreen on vinyl, 6"W x 2"H.

$1.50.

Blast from the past — MorphWorld: Lou Holtz into Granny Clampett

First featured here almost five years ago, it's even truer today.

Here's the post as it originally appeared on May 4, 2005.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

MorphWorld: Lou Holtz into Granny Clampett

Too explosive for the National Enquirer.

Even The Drudge Report found it too hot to handle.

But bookofjoe goes where no one else dares.

"Up from the ground come a bubblin' crude" — indeed.

Sunny Side Up Egg Placemat

Silkscreened die-cut wool felt.

Two for $32.

[via Things That Look Like Other Things]

James Rosenquist with his mother and an early creation from his sign-painting days in Minnesota, 1954

Deborah Solomon writing in the December 13, 2009 New York Times Book Review: "There’s a wonderful photograph [above] in the book, circa 1954, that attests to Rosenquist’s early love of road signs. It was taken outdoors, on an empty street in Minneapolis. The artist, then a tall, lanky man around 21, and his proud mom stand side by side, looking upward. Above them looms a giant billboard for Coca-Cola, one of the first Rosenquist ever painted. It is a genuinely captivating work, a roadside Magritte in which various unrelated objects (an arrow, a shapely glass of soda, a fashionable woman in a hat and gloves) float dreamily against a cloud-laced sky."

Brain Bowl — 'A must-have for zombie fans'

 

Meredith Host, who created it, wrote: "This slipcast porcelain bowl is covered with juicy brain texture and lined with a lovely blood red color."

5.5"Ø x 3"H; dishwasher- and microwave-safe; "High-fired so it's super strong."

$20.

[via Street Anatomy]

What is it?

Answer here this time tomorrow.

Mr. Wilson Towel Holder

Suction cup holds him to the wall.

€12.

[via Bem Legaus!]