Ground to Perfection

 

QUESTION: I love a good cup of coffee and grind my own beans. Today’s coffee grinders are sleek and efficient, but antique coffee grinders had character. Who were the major manufacturers of antique coffee grinders? And when did coffee grinders first appear?

ANSWER: Unlike today, grocery stores in the 19th and early 20th centuries sold coffee only as beans that could be, freshly ground in the store. Originally, all general stores had some sort of coffee grinder sitting on the counter. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, always sold its coffee as beans which could be custom ground according to the customer’s preference.

The Enterprise Manufacturing Company, founded by John Gulick Baker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1864 near Independence Hall, was one of the leading makers of both large and small coffee grinders. The company quickly grew to a huge operation producing everything from barn-door bolts to seven-foot-high, motorized coffee mills weighing almost 500 pounds. The firm also manufactured juicers, tobacco cutters, and Mrs. Potts sad irons, as well as cast iron banks. In 1876, the company received the Centennial Medal for their outstanding contributions to the American public.

General store owners used the Enterprise Model No. 12-1/2 coffee mill for grinding larger amounts of coffee. Manufactured between 1886 and 1898, it stood 42 inches high, had 25-inch diameter wheels and weighed about 140 pounds. It’s main components were of cast iron. Such mills became status symbols for those general store owners who could afford them.

While many of these larger coffee mills sported bright red or green paint, some had other decorations in the form of decals. True to Victorian style, many had gold painted details added to dress them up and give them a more deluxe appearance. Some of these mills also had elaborate flower motifs adorning the wheels to make them attractive for women shoppers.

In the 19th century, coffee grinders made to be used in the home ranged from box-type grinders designed to grind coffee from one-to-four servings to wall-mounted grinders, some of which could hold a pound or more of beans at a time.

Box grinders usually had brass bowls mounted on top of a hardwood or cast-iron box. The crank perforated the bottom of the bowl and would be turned to grind the beans into a drawer below. Not all box grinders were square, but finding a round one, especially in cast iron, can be a challenge for a collector.

In England, Kenrick & Sons was a major maker of box coffee grinders—the oval brass nameplate on the front of Kenrick box grinders makes them easy to identify. Imperial, Favorite, and None-Such were important U.S. brands. And in France, Peugeot Frères made metal and cast-iron box grinders with wooden handles.

The most collectible type of coffee grinder is the wall mounted variety made of cast iron. Some were brass, with clear glass hopper for beans on top, a big crank handle on the side, and a wooden drawer at the base to collect the ground coffee. The Arcade Manufacturing Company of Illinois made a wall-mounted grinder called The Crystal, named for its glass beans hopper and glass grounds cup.

But the Enterprise Manufacturing of Philadelphia made heavy-duty grinders for grocers, retailers, and wholesalers. While many of these wall or table-mounted machines had side crank handles, its largest grinders had handles that attached to flywheels. Some grinders had one wheel, others two.

The most ornate examples of Enterprise grinders from the late 19th and early 20th centuries had eagle finials atop urn-shaped hoppers and a pair of flywheels, all of which would be mounted on a waist-high, decorative cast-iron stand.

Mounting a coffee grinder firmly in place was important enough that even small box grinders had tabs on their bases so the grinder could be secured to a surface. People held Turkish style coffee grinders in their hands. Usually made of brass or enameled metal, these slender, cylindrical grinders often featured detailed engraved designs on their sides. Unlike box or grocery grinders, Turkish mills produced a fine grind, producing a dense, full-bodied coffee, today known as espresso, suited to what many considered an after-dinner beverage.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Roman Arts and Culture" in the 2025 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

A Natural Air Freshener

 

QUESTION: While browsing a flea market a couple weekends ago, I discovered a strange sort of glass bud vase on one of the tables. It seemed to be made of pressed glass and instead of having a foot, it came to a dull point at the bottom. The dealer had no idea what it was. I supposed it could have fit into a wire stand. Can you possibly tell for what this vase would have been used?

ANSWER: The object you saw at the flea market was an auto vase, an early car accessory. Before auto manufacturers first installed air conditioners in their cars in 1939, driving down a road on a hot summer day with temperatures in the upper 90s could be a challenge. In early automobiles, the pungent odor of battery acid mingled with the stench of the sweat from the passengers.

Car owners had no pine-scented cardboard trees to dangle from their review mirrors, and many  desperately wanted a reprieve from the foul smell. The auto or car vase, a term coined by Henry Ford, seemed to be the perfect solution to the problem. As early as 1895, small vases, which held one or two flowers that emitted a sweet fragrance, became the first automobile air-fresheners.

The auto vase was a small bud vase with a bracket that attached it to the inside of the car, either on the dashboard or beside a passenger-side window. Vases came in many designs and colors, as well as in a various price ranges. Not only did they improve the smell, they also added a touch of elegance to the car’s interior.  Third-party glass manufacturers made them from pressed glass, cut crystal, metal, porcelain, ceramic, and even wood, They then paired them with brackets that were often fancier than the vases, themselves. The fixtures could be made of silver or even gold plated.

The porcelain “blumenvasen” first appeared in the U.S. as an optional VW dealer accessory in the 1950s. High-end German porcelain manufacturers produced auto vases that could be clipped to the car’s dashboard, speaker grille, or windshield. This provided owners with the opportunity to personally customize their cars and often displayed either real or fake flowers.

Car owners could purchase auto vases in jewelry stores, auto parts stores, and from catalogs from companies such as Sears & Roebuck. Henry Ford was so pleased with these simple solutions that he offered them in his parts department and added them to his system of mass production. The service these vases provided made them a desirable feature to add to any car. With improvements in car batteries, air-conditioning became standard in many vehicles. But the majority of standard automobiles had them as an option which middle and working class people usually went without. They continued in general use until the 1960s.

When Volkswagen introduced its new water-cooled VW Beetle, the vehicle could be ordered with an auto vase-dealer installed, and as with the old Beetle the auto vase was available through VW parts departments.

Early accessory catalogs illustrated many different types of auto vases that car owners could purchase for installation in their cars. 

Retailers only sold auto vases individually. If a car owner wanted a pair, he would have had to purchase two. It was common to install a single vase on a dashboard or center of the front seat back in open cars. 

Auto vases used in an early automobile needed to be securely mounted. The majority of them had a top end that was designed to minimize splashing out their contents.  Some even had lips that flared inwards providing an edge for water to safely splash against.

Separate brackets, screwed onto the interior of the car, held auto vases in place. To accommodate that bracket, auto vases had an area designed for the bracket to fit it. Most vases had a small "dimple" where a set screw attached to the bracket could be screwed tightly to the vase, securing them from road vibration. Some vases, produced without the set screw dimple, were designed for a style of bracket that held the vase tightly by simply gripping it tightly. There were also other styles of mounting the vases that included spring-loaded caps or something that firmly gripped the vase, holding it in place. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Roman Arts and Culture" in the 2025 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.