What’s in our Collections? A Coffee Grinder

In our history collections, we have a cast iron coffee grinder by Enterprise, Mfg Co.

This coffee grinder was patented in 1873. The one in our collections appears to be a more recent version of this. 

These coffee grinders were often stamped with numbers to denote their size. This one is a smaller, countertop sized grinder. 

To operate the machine, you would put the coffee beans in the top. You would then crank the handle and out of the bottom would come the ground coffee. The drawer would collect the grounds for later use. 

Many of the drawers would have a notch in the back so that then you removed the drawer, you could pour the grounds straight into the pot.