Soren Sorensen Adams

otherpeople|Sam Adams

Soren Sorensen Adams (May 24, 1879 – October 20, 1963) was an inventor and manufacturer of novelty products, including the Joy Buzzer.

Biography

He was born Søren Adam Sørensen near Aarhus Denmark in 1879 to Hans and Sofia Sorensen, and immigrated to the U.S.A. with his family at age four, and grew up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey where his father operated a saloon. In 1904 Adams found himself employed as a salesman for a dye company. One of the products he sold caused workers to sneeze, and Sam found a way to extract this derivative from the dye and called this new powder "Cachoo". He was inundated by requests for this product from his friends and so, he decided to sell his interest in a hotel in York, Pennsylvania, and used the money to launch the "Cachoo Sneezing Powder Company" in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Within a few years, the sneezing powder craze that swept the country had subsided, and Sam set out to innovating new products. He also changed the name of the company to S.S. Adams Co., to reflect that he was no longer a one product company. The "Exploding Cigarette Box" , the Snake Nut Can, "Itching Powder", the Stink bomb, and the Dribble glass all entered the Adams line in the next decade.Patiya

In 1928, Sam invented the prototype of what was to become the Joy Buzzer, a mechanical device placed in the hand, which emitted a loud vibrating buzz, when a button on the buzzer was depressed. This would usually occur when two people shook hands. He took the prototype to Dresden, Germany, where a tool and die maker created the tooling to make small parts for the item, which was now just 3.2cm (1-1/4 inches) in diameter and 1.8cm (3/4 inch) thick. The final item was copyrighted in 1932. The success of the item allowed him to greatly increase his staff and purchase a stately new factory building in Neptune, New Jersey, all during the Great Depression.

Sam and S.S. Adams went on to create many more successful novelties: "The Bar Bug in Ice Cube", "The Money Maker", "The Squirting Nickel", "The Jumping Coin", "Laughing Tissue" as well as an extensive line of magic tricks and puzzles. He claimed to have devised over 600 different items, and patented about 40 of them.

Death

He continued to lead S.S. Adams Company until his death in Asbury Park, NJ in 1963 at age 84. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Soren S. Adams, 84, Novelties Maker |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20717F7355912718DDDA80A94D8415B838AF1D3 |quote=Soren S. Adams, owner of a million-dollar novelty business who was known as "king of the professional pranksters," died today in his home. He was 84 years old. |publisher=Associated Press |date=October 21, 1963 |accessdate=2008-05-23 ]

Bibliography

Demaris, Kirk Life of The Party: A Visual History of the S.S. Adams Company Neptune, NJ, S.S. Adams Co., 2006

Rauscher, William. S.S. Adams: High Priest of Pranks and Merchant of Magic. Oxford, CT, David E. Haversat, 2002

Zolotow, Maurice. It Takes All Kinds New York, Random House, 1952

References

External links

* [http://www.ssadams.com S.S. Adams Company]