Amedeo Obici
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Amedeo Obici (July 15, 1877–May 22, 1947) was an Italian-American businessman who founded the Planters Peanut Company.
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[edit] Childhood, emigrating to the United States
Amedeo Obici was born in Oderzo, Italy to Pietro Ludovico and Luigia Carolina. His father died when he 7 years old, leaving behind his widow, young Amedeo, another son, and a daughter.
In 1889, his mother's brother, Vittorio Sartor, invited him to come to the United States. The uncle, his wife and two children had earlier emigrated and lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Amadeo was unable to speak English. When he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Le Havre, France in March 1889, his destination was written on a label tied through a buttonhole on his coat. Upon arrival in Brooklyn, New York, he rode a train to Scranton. Upon arrival, he lived with his uncle's family, worked for him at his fruit stand, and attended classes in the evening to learn English.
[edit] Roasted peanuts as a snack food
While working at the fruit stand, he is thought to have become aware of the popularity of peanuts as snack food. Because roaster ovens were too expensive for his uncle, Amadeo made a rudimentary roaster from parts obtained at a local scrap yard.
Amedeo saved his money, and in 1895, brought the rest of his family from Italy to the United States. With the remaining savings he also was able to open his own fruit stand and peanut roaster.
[edit] Joining forces with Mario Peruzzi
Obici operated an eating-establishment which served oyster stew and roasted peanuts in a building in downtown Wilkes-Barre. There, in 1897, he teamed up with a friend, Mario Peruzzi, another Italian-American immigrant who was working for a wholesale grocer. Some time after Peruzzi's first wife died in 1910 (leaving two children), he married Obici's sister, with whom he had no children.
[edit] Planters Peanuts
Obici and Peruzzi founded Planters Peanut Company (unincorporated) in 1906 and incorporated it as Planters Nut and Chocolate Company in 1908. Planters owned four factories by 1930. Obici invented a new method of skinning and blanching peanuts so the roasted goobers came out clean.
In 1913, they built a new processing plant in the heart of peanut farming territory in Suffolk, Virginia. Part of Obici's genius was in marketing and finding new products to add to Planter's stock.
In 1916 he married Louise Musante.
[edit] Bay Point Farm, Obici Hospital
In 1924, Louise and Amedeo Obici moved to Virginia from Scranton and purchased the 253-acre Bay Point Farm located in the community of Chuckatuck in Nansemond County (which is now a part of the City of Suffolk). The couple relocated the farmhouse and added onto it, resulting in an Italian Renaissance style home on a bluff overlooking the Nansemond River.
Louise and Amadeo Obici were unable to have children of their own, but they were active in holding frequent events for children of the community at their Bay Point Farm. Dairy farming was a hobby for Amadeo. He had a prized herd of Guernsey cows, and distributed Bay Point Dairy Farm milk in Suffolk.
Louise Obici died in 1938. Amedeo wanted to create a lasting memorial for her and by 1941 had settled on a hospital. In 1942, he formed a corporation, which was funded by a large endowment presented after his death. Amadeo continued to live at Bay Point Farm until he died in 1947.
Although some acreage has been reduced through sale, Bay Point Farm still includes the Obici's home overlooking the Nansemond River and some of the outbuildings, and currently belongs to the City of Suffolk. Bay Point Farm is a Virginia Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[edit] Legacy
The generosity of Louise and Amedeo Obici to their adopted community and his workers left an indelible imprint in Suffolk and the surrounding community.
Among Amedeo Obici's legacy in the Suffolk and surrounding community was the original Louise Obici Memorial Hospital on U.S. Route 460. The hospital was established by his brother-in-law Mario Peruzzi after Obici's death, using the funds Obici had left him for that purpose. The community landmark, dedicated to Amadeo's wife Louise, opened in 1951. Through his estate, Obici also planned and paid for another hospital in his original hometown of Oderzo, Italy.
In 2006, a newer facility replaced the 1951-era Louise Obici Memorial Hospital at a larger site on State Route 10 and has become affiliated with the Sentara medical group which operates many healthcare facilities in southeastern Virginia.
Although Planters and the peanut industry are not the major defining activity of Suffolk as they once were, the Mr. Peanut character has become quite famous. A statue of Mr. Peanut is prominently displayed in downtown Suffolk. Another was a gift to Suffolk's sister city, Oderzo, Italy.
The company, now known as Planters, is owned by Kraft Foods. It is the Suffolk area's 11th largest employer.
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[edit] References
- Hobbs, Kermit; & Paquette, William A. Suffolk: A Pictorial History. Norfolk/Virginia Beach: The Donning Company. ISBN 0-89865-611-7.
