Samuel Glazer, a co-founder of Mr. Coffee, one of the first automatic drip coffee makers, has died. He was 89.
Glazer and his business partner Vincent Marotta, Sr. first introduced their drip coffee machines in 1972. They dreamed up the idea of adapting an industrial coffeemaker for home use and hired engineers to invent it, The New York Times reports.
Within a few years the traditional way of making coffee -- with a percolator or using instant coffee -- had virtually disappeared and automatic drip coffee makers had taken over.
Glazer and Marotta sold the company to a securities firm in an $82 million leveraged buyout in 1987, The Times said. It is now a brand of the Sunbeam Corporation.
Former New York Yankees player Joe DiMaggio was a spokesperson for the “Mr. Coffee” brand for many years, appearing in a number of commercials.
