Feynman's father worked as a sales manager for what product?

Richard Feynman’s father, Melville Arthur Feynman, worked as a sales manager for uniforms.

Melville was involved in the uniform business for much of his working life and sold garments such as uniforms for police officers and postal workers. He had also tried other ventures, but the uniform trade became his most enduring occupation. Richard grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, in a family where his father’s practical curiosity strongly shaped his education.

Melville encouraged his son to ask questions, distrust empty authority, and understand how things worked rather than merely memorize names. Those lessons became central to Feynman’s later reputation as a physicist, teacher, and popular science communicator. Feynman often recalled his father’s demonstrations and conversations as formative experiences.

The answer is sometimes shortened to “uniform salesman,” but “uniforms” identifies the product his father sold. Melville was not a physicist; his influence came through informal teaching and his insistence on clear, concrete understanding.