Lambert's Victory Gas Machine
In 1897, Joseph Lambert, of Vermont, began the manufacture and sale in Battle Creek, Mich., of the Lambert self-contained coffee roaster without the brick setting then required for coffee-roasting machines. In 1900, he was joined by A.P. Grohens. In 1901, the Lambert Food and Machinery Co. was organized. In 1904, the company was reorganized. Since then, many improvements have been made under Mr. Grohens' direction. The Lambert gas roaster, one of the first machines employing gas as fuel for indirect roasting, dates back to 1901, as previously mentioned. The Economic roaster is Mr. Grohens' latest development for coal or coke fuel. It is a compact self-contained equipment operating in connection with a new-type rotary cooler. He has also recently (1922) brought out a gas-fired, electrically operated 600-pound Victory roaster and a fifty-pound miniature coffee-roasting plant designed for retail stores.
In 1897, the Enterprise Manufacturing Co. of Pennsylvania was the first regularly to employ electric motors for driving commercial coffee mills by means of belt-and-pulley attachments.
In 1898, the Hobart Manufacturing Co., of Troy, Ohio, introduced to the trade another early coffee grinder connected with an electric motor and driven by belt-and-pulley attachment.
In 1900, the first gear-driven electric coffee grinder was put on the market by the Enterprise Manufacturing Co. of Pennsylvania.
In 1902, the Coles Manufacturing Co., (Braun Co., successor) and Henry Troemner, of Philadelphia, began the manufacture and sale of gear-driven electric coffee grinders.
In 1905, the A.J. Deer Co., Buffalo, N.Y., (now at Hornell, N.Y.) began to sell its Royal electric coffee mills direct to dealers on the instalment plan, revolutionizing the former practise of selling coffee mills through hardware jobbers.
In 1905, H.L. Johnston was granted a United States patent on a coffee mill. He assigned the patent to the Hobart Manufacturing Co.
In 1900, Charles Lewis was granted a United States patent on an improved reversible filtration coffee pot known as the Kin-Hee. This pot has since been further improved, and the patent rights sold in several foreign countries. It employs a filter cloth in place of the metal or china strainer used in the French drip pot.
In 1901, Landers, Frary & Clark's improved Universal percolator was patented in the United States. This pot has proved to be one of the most popular percolators on the American market. This firm brought out the Universal Cafenoira, a double glass filtration device, in 1916. It is covered by design and structural patents issued in 1916 and 1917.