Brevetti Robbiati - Citrus Fruit Squeezer

A special order from Thomas E. Cara to Giordano Robbiati... A Citrus Fruit Squeezer.

It might make one regret that there is not as many Vintage Squeezer Collectors as Coffee Machine Collectors.

You're collecting Mr. Robbiati's creation... try to get that one... there were only 50 pieces produced.

All of them were shipped to Thos. E. Cara in San Francisco.

The date gives a clue to their early business collaboration... the patent for this machine dates 29th of September 1945.

For the ones interested in technical "stuff", here is another drawing for this rare bird:

I would be interested to know if Christopher Cara knows about it and if there is any trace of these machines in his archives.

If someone in the italian community of San Francisco ever reads this thread, this is what i am looking for:

A squeezer unit with an oscillating rotating fluted nosecone on which half a lemon or similar citrus is pressed.

The first one who sends me a picture of the actual object - it might not be higher than 15 to 20 cms - will make my day.

Greetings to the San Franciscans!

From "be sure to wear flowers in your hair":

To a more up to date "it's getting dirty underneath the blue sky" (gosh are we getting old!):

PS: I am aware of the sometimes colliding dates (or not colliding dates in this case)... I just take it as it is... It is based on the memories of family members, these things happened 65 years ago so... If Mr. Cara asked Mr. Robbiati for a fruit juicer in 1945 but only created "Thos E. Cara ltd.d" in 1947, then there is a 2 years gap... so be it. Maybe Mr. Cara junior will come up with new facts... the time will say.

Thomas Edward Cara

Thomas Edward Cara was born on April, 22nd 1910 in San Francisco.

He ist the son of Humbert and Felicita (born Scaglia) Cara, both of italian descendance (2nd and 4th generation repsectively) both based in North Beach, the italian part of San Francisco.


He diplomed 1933 a bachelor of arts at St-Mary’s College, an institution run by christian brothers (lassalian). During WWII, Thomas Cara was with US army intelligence in Africa and in Northern Italy. In Milan, he met the Pavoni family and bought a 3 foot tall, gas-fired chrome-plated model from them, which he brought back to his home.
On january 3rd, 1942 he married Mary Valvano from who he will get 2 sons, John (1943) and Christopher (1948). Both Mary and Thomas Cara were passionate about food and good coffee, Mr. Cara inventing the first all-male cooking classes in America which will become the only American chapter of the Confrérie de la marmite, a swiss socety in which male gourmets prepare meals for each other.
At the insentive of his wife,  Thomas Cara will start  importing Espresso Coffee machines, becoming the first one to do so on the west Coast.

 He grounded the „Thos Cara Ltd, Culinary Importers“, in 1947, long before San francisco was captivated by Coffee. At that time, there was only one other store in the Usa that imported foreign cookware „le Bazar Francais“ and, at its closure, "Thos Cara ltd." became the oldest cookware store in America, stocking italian polenta pots, ravioli makers, french duck presses and fisch poachers, none of which was locally available when he opened on the grant Avenue in North beach. 


The second store was located on Colombus Avenue in 1952 to be then relocated to 517 pacific Avenue in the 60s. Thomas Edward Cara ran the establishment until 1992, he was 82. Since 1994, Thos Cara Ltd sells exclusively espresso machines. Thomas Cara passed away october 16th 2001 at the aged 91 and was buried in San Francisco’s italian cemetery.


His son Christopher, now 65 years old, is continuing Mr. Cara’s Legacy.

Best greetings if you have the chance to meet him...... and please forward him my next post... i am very curious if he knows about it.

National Geographic Diver... (STEMAC, Milan - Italy)

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's...

I had a big doubt when i saw an article in Design, Edition 457-462,  printed by the Design Council in 1987.

Alfredo Robbiati...

One part of this name reminded me of something...
Unfortunately, and after long thoughts... i couldn't make it work so i didn't continue my research.

or Maybe i did ;.) ... and this is what came out:

As Giordano Robbiati closed down Brevetti Robbiati in 1983, going into pension, his son Alfredo took over the business.

He registered his Company STEMAC.... or more precisely S.T.E.M.A.C on the 6th of September 1983.

S.T.E.M.A.C?

S TAMPAGGIO
T ERMO INDURENTI
E
M ACCHINETTE
A TOMIC
C AFFÈ

At this point, it is important to say that Brevetti Robbiati and S.T.E.M.A.C. were making both coffee machines and bakelite parts (to which the "Stampagio Termoindurenti" is drawing attention... "Thermoset molding" in english).

Worth noticing too is that Atomic is part of the business name and that Alfredo Robbiati sold different coffee machines using this name.

On this picture of a fair, you will recognize different models:
(The translation top left "Atomic caffettiere" translate as "Atomic coffee machines"):

I had the immense honor to meet Franco Balzarotti at his home in the neighborhoods of Milan and his fantastic collection.

If someone knows about the whole history of the Robbiati family, than him.

Here are the coffee machines i honestly saw for the first time...
On the picture, you can see this one on the right side on the bar:

And this one, on the lowest display "cube", in front of the shelf:

Here a coffee machine part of the fantastic collection of Ugo:

http://caffettiera.altervista.org/

Mr. Robbiati Junior kept trading with the clients of Mr. Robbiati senior.

And so from 1983 onwards, he was sending his coffee machines to Australia.

So now you know, if you have purchased a coffee machine from Bon Trading between 1983 and 1989, it wasn't a Brevetti Robbiati...

... it was a S.T.E.M.A.C.

and it was not made by Mr. Giordano Robbiati, but by his son Alfredo.

S.T.E.M.A.C. closed its doors on the 6th of March 1989.

I had the chance to meet Alfredo Robbiati - aged 75 - thanks again to Franco Balzarotti.

A person of another generation... in his gestures and answers... incredibly self-respecting of his work and what he achieved... he left a very deep impression... and as we parted, me going back to my flight, him walking down the street - incognito... i looked over my shoulders (something i never do usually)... and it reminded me of national geographic documentaries, when divers swim at great depth and a whale comes, look at them and peacefully, gently pass by...
... and like them, i'll never believe what happened.

Ite missa est.

PS: and the "La sorrentina" coffee machine sold in NY in 1984 is no Brevetti Robbiati.... but a S.T.E.M.A.C.!!!!

Picnic is over... let's go back to work...

A coffee machine which is as elegant in the fields as in the office...

The beautiful Stella 105...

You'll hear a lot about this machine from me... i just loooooove it.

Boooooooooooooooooooring....

My brain still smiles how booooooooooooooooooring this Blog must be.

I see that many people viewed the post " what happened in 1986?"...

No picture of an explosion, no fire... sorry.

Mr. Robbiati retired from his business in 1983, at the age of 74.

It might be boring... but so be it.

Lost litterature... Part 3.

A. & MG. SASSOON (UK, London) was still selling coffee machines from the Brevetti Robbiati business (Milan, Italy) in 1959.

Have fun reading...

Lost litterature... Part 2.

A.&M.G SASSOON (London, UK) started importing the Martian coffee maker from the Brevetti Robbiati business (Milan, Italy) in 1957.

Any help to source these articles would be appreciated!!!

Lost litterature... Part 1

A.& M.G. SASSOON (London, UK) started to import the coffee machines from Brevetti Robbiati (Milan, Italy) in 1955.

The foloowing article explains quite clearly how the machine works, doesn't it?

If you have a copy of these  Design & Industry / The motor articles, you can forward it to me at the above stated email address. Many thanks!

Creativity.

Option a) The coffee machine was "dead":

Seen here: http://unexpectedlighting.wordpress.com/kitcheniana/how-these-came-about/

Option b) the coffee machine was worth being saved:

Seen here: http://thesecondhelpinghouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/atomic-coffee.html

Seen here: http://gourmetgirl-friend.blogspot.com/2010/09/long-time-no-post.html

Let's go picnic....

Lovely day here... a few clouds here and there... a slight breeze...

Perfect day for a picnic.

I would take out my Stella 105... if i had one.

An Astonishingly Ugly coffee machine in Al Capone's City...

Where else than in Chicago could the first coffee machine from the Brevetti Robbiati business set first foot on the american continent? It has one of the largest italian community in the United States!

Chicago has a long history of italian immigration, maybe you can take a look here:
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/658.html

What a lovely shop it must have been!!!

http://www.contedisavoia.com/

Comparing this picture with the following one (actual)... it doesn't leave an option... i'll travel back in time.

http://www.contedisavoia.com/

And how did the "astonishingly ugly" but "highly effective" italian coffee maker become an object many collectors cherish... every explanation would be vain... it is what it is.

The article is from 1978:

If you live in Chicago: Greet them from me...

Share the smile...

I smiled when i saw this this morning.

Welcome to badge number 41!!!
Post actualised:
http://unasalusvictisnullamsperaresalutem.blogspot.com/2011/07/badges-each-badge-story-each-story.html

How many more to come???

The first coffee machine with an inverted "Atomic" wording!!!

If people knew how rare these machines were... It would go for twice the asked price.

It would be the best tribute to Mr. Simon.

black-on-white

One day i woke up with the need to write an email... so i scratched my head... and after hours of thinking - that was before the first espresso - i came up with something i was happy with.

I wrote one email like: " dear Mr/Mrs Bla bla, i would like to know if you have any information about the Brevetti Robbiati business, best regards, Bla bla, Mik".

Ok... then you open translate.google.com and let it translate in italian:
"Gentile Sig. / Sig.ra Bla bla, vorrei sapere se avete informazioni sulle attività BrevettiRobbiati, cordiali saluti, Bla Bla, Mik"


In the meantime, you do what you are supposed to do (go to work if you are as lucky as i am) and then - 3 days later - you read the answer:

Not even something to be proud of. Honestly.


So then you let Translate google do it backwards:

Yes, you have to help the translation a bit... but it really helps:


"company "patent Robbie" to "Robbie Jordan" founded May 10, 1948 and inscribed in the register of companies with 372,352 n.ro May 13, 1948. The seat was originally in Novate Milanese in Via C. Baptists 22, then April 24, 1958 the company moved to Milan in Via Pietro da Cemmo 4. The activity was carried out: Alloy Foundry and Mechanical Workshop. The company goes out of business December 7, 1983 for"withdrawal from the business""

You have the date of creation, the date of the closure.... and when it moved from one place to the other.

Took maybe 10 minutes of my private time.

Beginning:

End:

And in between:

If you have a coffee machine badged "Novate Milanese", now you know it has "officially" been made between 1948 and 1958. (i wrote officially between brackets because Mr. Robbiati was active before he registered his business, and because, who knows how many boxes of Badges were left after he moved).

Not bad for 10 minutes of work, 3 days of waiting and 1 email, isn't it?

But not the end i am afraid...

These coffee machines were manufactured in Milan by another company than Brevetti Robbiati.

... La suite au prochain numéro!

The first resellers... Croci, Gorrea, Caudano.

Of course, One could buy the products  (not only coffee machines) of Mr. Robbiati at his company.

But you could also visit the first 3 retailers... Croci in Milano, Gorrea in Genova or Caudano in Torino.

I couldn't find a lot of information about them... but here we go:

Mr. Croci must have been a friend of Mr. Robbiati. He gave his testimony to the creation of "Brevetti Robbiati".

His shop was in Via Armorati n°8, in the Passagio Centrale which is the gallery behind the post office.

Here the Building:

I can imagine walking into the Croci shop in 1948 and see among other objects novelties a shiny piece of aluminium... a bit like this one ... but new, freshly baked from the Brevetti Robbiati factory.

Now the informations really thin up... all what is left is just the information.

The Flatheads were also sold in Genova by Gorrea... I found an old business letter once on the internet.
Is it the same Gorrea?

Maybe, this blog will be a trigger for new research... i can't wish more. (who knows? Old adverts, or catalogues of the Gorrea business... which bring me to another question: Are there some italian retailer catalogues collectors?).

And last but not least.... Caudano !!! (Torino)

Now a shop with such a long tradition of catalogue making!!!! There must be a trace of Caudano - a warehouse created in 1854!- selling the coffee machines of Mr. Robbiati.
Anyone who can help me there would be thanked a million time.
Caudano is where i have the least information but the biggest hope!!!

The shop was on Piazza Carlo Felice n°10 and or n°28.

Join the search!
... and i don't even think a second of a coffee machine wearing the Caudano Badge. no no no... ;.)