Sam J Porcello Oreo Innovator Early Life Some people believe the way a person eats an Oreo reveals aspects about his or her personality How do you eat your Oreo cookies Do you dunk them in milk Or maybe you twist off the top and eat the crème filling first You might be surprised to learn that the man who invented the creamy center did not like to eat sweets But that did not stop Sam 4
J Porcello from creating the famous filling inside Oreos as well as many other sweet treats Samuel Joseph Porcello was born in May 1935 in Newark New Jersey He went by Sam Sam’s mother’s name was Theresa Little is known about Sam’s father Sam was raised by his mother and his stepfather Jerry Porcello who legally adopted Sam Sam was an only child but he was Sam with his mother Theresa part of a huge extended family His mother was the oldest of 15 children Many of her brothers and sisters were close in age to Sam Sam’s uncle Ralph was only two years older than him The two boys were very good friends Sam felt more like a brother to many of his mother’s siblings than he did their nephew Sam was also very close to his mother She loved Sam very much and doted on him There was almost nothing Theresa would not do for Sam She even ironed his socks and underwear 5
Sam J Porcello Oreo Innovator Education Matters As a child Sam spent a great deal of time with his grandmother Esterina Mazzuca Esterina was often in the kitchen cooking for her family Sam sometimes helped her Soon he took an interest in cooking too Sam went to Barringer High School in Newark After graduation he spent one year studying at nearby Seton Hall University He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck New Jersey Porcello worked hard to put himself through school He often worked as many as three different jobs during the school year After finishing university Porcello took a job as a math teacher in 1959 But Porcello did not earn enough money to support himself The next year he set out to find a new job Porcello hoped to work at a cosmetics company creating new products One company offered Porcello a job and he planned to accept it But before he could the company learned Porcello was colorblind If Porcello couldn’t see colors how could he make cosmetics Porcello returned to his job search 6
Newark Sam's hometown is very near Hoboken New Jersey where the first Oreos were sold in 1912
