The day started bleak and dreary, and well — Wet. But by lunch the sun had burned away the gloom, and a crisp sunny day had emerged.
As luck would have it, I found myself at the Lyon Farm Village for a September Farm Festival with my son (5). The Farm was alive with children, and machines from a simpler time. Cars, Tractors, Farm equipment, you name it. A hay ride provided excitement, and interesting facts about Prairie plants.
After the ride we made our way to a small house, an authentic period home in every manner. While listening to the volunteer engage me son about things in the kitchen so spoke the magic words –
Does your mommy make coffee?
Why yes my son replied, I smiled to myself, slightly bemused but quickly finding my pulse quicken as she proceeded to show my son not one, but two period coffee grinders! Both in excellent condition.
The first, a more traditional coffee grinder, or mill looked like it could grind just an easily today as I am sure it could back when it was originally made. It took every fiber of my being not to pick it up and look at it.
The second grinder, a wall mount version unlike anything I have seen before. But not being a student of antiques, this came as no big surprise to me.
What did surprise me was when the volunteer reached up and started to grind coffee right in front of me! I was delighted and expecting her to fire up the stove and brew me a pot right then and there. But alas, no such luck.
So what is the point of this post?
The point is simply this — It never ceases to amaze me the places that you can find interesting coffee information. The net it a great place for coffee news, reviews and tips — but today was a perfect example of seeing something coffee related in the most unlikely of places.
September 25th, 2006 at 7:40 AM
Nice pics! I’ve used the first type you show, but I’ve never seen one like the second!
I’ll bet it does a nice job, and with less static and mess than my electric. I wonder if it’s consistent enough to always be able to turn the same number of revolutions and get the exact same amount of ground coffee?
September 25th, 2006 at 8:13 AM
Good question, I imagine that there would be some degree of variation in the amound of coffee ground, but it looks like it would be somewhat consistent.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:50 PM
I fancy owning one of these for my own use. I imagine the jar/collector option would be one of the cleaner options, but it would also take the most space. Oh well - what I wouldn’t do for a cheap burr grinder!