Jack Ferris

Jack Ferris (born Yonkel Farkas; May 9, 1911 - December 31, 2000) was a Hungarian-American self-educated inventor and small business owner, whose inventions, including FERRIS NO-PEG PEARL CEMENT, FERRIS ZIP-ON EARRING BACKS, and most notably FERRIS FILE-A-WAX, changed the way jewelers make jewelry.

Early life

Jack Ferris was born on May 9, 1911 in Hungary, to Ignatz and Ettel Farkas. His original name was Yonkel Farkas, later to become Jack Farkas when he arrived in the United States at the age of nine, and later on he changed his name to Jack Ferris. When Jack was an infant, his father left the family in Coponya and went to New York City to earn enough money to be able to bring over his wife and two children who remained in Hungary for about nine years (another daughter was born in the U.S.). Jack had a difficult time adjusting as an immigrant child and never finished high school. He actually quit school in the sixth grade and continued with a required 4-hour school week until the age of 16 or 17. Not happy at home with his religious parents, he moved out of the family home and rented a basement apartment in downtown Manhattan, working at whatever jobs he could find to support himself.

Jack worked on many jobs – machinist, plumber’s helper, electrician’s helper – to list just a few, and from his various jobs he learned a great deal that he later applied when he went into business for himself. He became interested in chemistry when assisting a chemical engineer with experiments during WW II and continued to read Chemical Week and later also Modern Plastics for years to come. Jack became a self-educated man and combined his inventive nature with the materials he read about. His creative ideas and willingness to experiment led to revolutionary changes in the jewelry industry.

Family

Jack married Dora German, also from an immigrant family, who arrived in New York from Kiev. Dora became a bookkeeper and worked full-time out of the home, but she also became Jack’s bookkeeper and secretary for his business, working at home in the evenings. They had two children, Steven and Susan. After selling his company in 1984, Jack and Dora moved to an apartment in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York.

Jack was a dedicated husband and a beloved father and grandfather. He died December 31, 2000 at the age of 89.

Inventions

Jack became involved in the jewelry manufacturing trade and used his inventive skills to revolutionize the way things were done in several areas. He developed an inexpensive pickle pot that is still widely used. More important, he developed a formula for a two-part epoxy cement that was adopted for cementing pearls without having to drill a hole in them for a peg and which held up in all temperatures and was long-lasting and very strong. At first it took a lot of persuasion to get jewelers to change their way of cementing pearls, but eventually FERRIS NO-PEG PEARL CEMENT became the only way jewelers attach pearls in rings, necklaces and earrings.

Another invention which had an impact on jewelry for pierced ears was a greatly improved design for holding an earring in place and removing the earring. There are several kinds of earring backs available now, but at the time Jack was involved in jewelry-making, the standard earring backs were small screw backs (still in use today) which were easy to lose and not convenient to use. Jack created a new design that held the earring in place by pushing the back on and off – no need for screwing – and shaped in a way that was easy to handle, soft on the skin of the ear and didn’t fall off without the wearer’s fingers grabbing the earring back while holding the earring on the front of the ear. The earring backs were called FERRIS ZIP-ON EARRING BACKS and were made from gold for use with gold earring posts. The zip-ons could be used with any earrings that required an earring back.

Of the many technologies developed in the jewelry industry in the 20th century, none had a more revolutionary impact than the invention of the synthetic wax now used universally in making models and special orders - invented by Jack Ferris. Although Jack envisioned the wax as a product for hobbyists, it became an essential product for the entire jewelry industry as well as in use by hobbyists. It is known as FERRIS FILE-A-WAX. It is available in slices, tubes or blocks and is carved in order to make models which are later reproduced by the lost wax casting process.

Jeweler Aids Company

In order to meet the demand for his products, Jack started a small business, the Jeweler Aids Company. The FERRIS “factory” was located in the basement of the Ferris family home in Laurelton, Queens, New York City, from about 1954 until the sale of the home and the business in 1984. Jack made all his own production equipment and packaged all the orders. As the business developed, he had some part-time hired help. When Jack and Dora were ready to retire, neither of their children had interest in taking over the business so eventually the business was sold to Kindt Collins Company in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ferris brand

After the sale of the business – basically the carving wax – to Kindt Collins Company, the Ferris File-A-Wax became widely used, nationally and internationally, through advertising and the excellence of the formulas for the various waxes invented by Jack Ferris. In 2011 Kindt-Collins was acquired by Freeman Manufacturing & Supply company, the largest jewelry wax manufacturer in the world, which continues to sell the renowned Ferris brand worldwide.

References

This article "Jack Ferris" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Jack Ferris. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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