Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma kitchen stores, died in 2015. He was 100 years old. As a boy, he lived in Springfield at 1617 Liberty Street (home in photo) in Jacksonville, FL. He discovered his love of cooking by watching his grandmother work on her 1920's porcelain stove. As part of
Springfield Preservation and Revitalization (SPAR)
, we were able to provide materials to Williams-Sonoma for the celebration of his life. His obit in the Washington Post:
"Chuck Williams, the founder of the Williams-Sonoma kitchen tools empire who introduced Americans to the concept of upscale cookware, died Dec. 5 at his home in San Francisco. He was 100.
TV chefs Julia Child and James Beard may have introduced Americans to fine food, the conventional wisdom went, but it was Mr. Williams who sold them the equipment to make it at home.
His selection of knives, copper pans and high-end pots first made gourmet cooking accessible to home cooks in the economic prosperity after World War II. He not only imported products previously unseen in U.S. kitchens, but he also worked with manufacturers to roll out such staples as KitchenAid stand mixers and Cuisinart food processors.
'I think he shaped the taste of all those who love to cook,' Child told Newsweek in 1997. 'In the early days of my show, the home chef couldn’t buy any of the items I used in cooking. You had to buy them the next time you went to France. Chuck changed all that.' "
Springfield Preservation and Revitalization (SPAR)
, we were able to provide materials to Williams-Sonoma for the celebration of his life. His obit in the Washington Post:
"Chuck Williams, the founder of the Williams-Sonoma kitchen tools empire who introduced Americans to the concept of upscale cookware, died Dec. 5 at his home in San Francisco. He was 100.
TV chefs Julia Child and James Beard may have introduced Americans to fine food, the conventional wisdom went, but it was Mr. Williams who sold them the equipment to make it at home.
His selection of knives, copper pans and high-end pots first made gourmet cooking accessible to home cooks in the economic prosperity after World War II. He not only imported products previously unseen in U.S. kitchens, but he also worked with manufacturers to roll out such staples as KitchenAid stand mixers and Cuisinart food processors.
'I think he shaped the taste of all those who love to cook,' Child told Newsweek in 1997. 'In the early days of my show, the home chef couldn’t buy any of the items I used in cooking. You had to buy them the next time you went to France. Chuck changed all that.' "
-
Historic
