Brand of
mass-market kitchen equipment. Company was started by
tinsmith F. W. Farber in
1900.
In 1930, they manufactured the first stainless steel coffee percolator. However, to me Farberware has always meant stainless steel pots and pans, with an aluminum plate on the bottom for better heat conduction than plain pans. Farberware, as far as I know, invented this, and it is copied by even upscale kitchenware manufacturers in different ways. Contrast with Revereware, a major competitor, who uses copper on the bottoms of stainless steel cookware for much the same purpose. Interestingly, Farberware's and Revere Ware's pot lids will fit on each other's pots.
Farberware now sells all sorts of kitchen equipment--usually in midrange department stores and retailers like Wal-Mart
The stuff will last a long time. It's not as good as the stuff you'd get at Williams-Sonoma, say, but it's much better than the cheap stuff at a K-Mart or Wal-Mart. If you're lookign for reasonably priced pans that will take a beating, it's a good bet.