1980s technology Percolating coffee
Got home from work I was looking for the French press was craving a good cup of coffee . No clue where I stored it, in my search I saw the percolater, I enjoy our keurig especially the dark petes roast. But I fired up the percolater and I forget how great the coffee tastes.
So then my wife gets up tells me where the French press was stored. So I brewed up some French press, the boys walked thru kitchen and asked about the percolater what is that , is it going to blow up I said no it's brewing coffee I said that is 1980s and before technology. The guys were hanging in family room until it was done I do not think they believed me.
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Coffee made in the French press tastes wonderful but is as entertaining as watching paint dry. 
At least with Keurig type coffee makers the process is fast. :-D
It looked like this:
Last edited Sat Sep 30, 2017, 04:22 PM - Edit history (1)
in August. It was after the sale had ended. I was down there to pick up a church bulletin for my neighbor, and they had a lot of stuff left over from the sale, which had been held the day before. I had gone to the sale, so I must have walked past this thing about a dozen times.
The cord was inside the percolator. I plugged the percolator in, and the heating element started right up. It was too good to pass up.
Hit Google images and search for "West Bend Flavo-matic percolator," and you'll find pictures of them. Here are a few:
The colors you see in photographs can be deceptive, often because the pictures were taken under an incandescent lamp, or because cellphone cameras aren't picky about color balance. It looks as if they came in a few colors, including royal blue.
My percolator has a champagne anodized aluminum body. It has a black handle, so this is what mine looks like:
It's going to take the place of a Proctor-Silex percolator I pulled from a "help yourself" box left out on Veterans Day, 2016. I threw it on the back of my bicycle and schlepped it home. It worked for a few months, until a bakelite part in it cracked. It's the part that the detachable cord attaches to. The replacement part surely hasn't been available for decades. I have figured out how to make a replacement part, but it will take all day. The material has to be non-conductive and able to withstand high temperature.
Like the Proctor-Silex percolator, the West Bend percolator is made in the US. It's a pre-1962 model, as it uses West Bend's old company name.
The West Bend Company was a West Bend, Wisconsin company from 1911 to 2001. The West Bend Company manufactured aluminum cookware and electrical appliances, but also made two-stroke cycle engines including outboard boat motors. Art Ingels used a surplus West Bend engine to power the first kart. The engine division of West Bend was sold to Chrysler, then to Brunswick, and finally to USMotor.
Company History:
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West Bend developed a new drip coffeemaker, which did not require filter paper, in 1922. The popularity of the "Flavo-Drip" led to the development of a rangetop percolator called the "Flavo-Perk." The company also introduced various sizes of portable coffee urns to its coffeemaking line. In 1949 the Flavo-Perk became electric, and the following year it was converted to fully automatic operation under the name "Flavo-matic." Among its other early electric appliances, West Bend unveiled a portable drip coffee urn, the Speedmaster electric teakettle, Aluminum Glo lamps, and the Cadet water heater for automobiles.
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Meanwhile, the West Bend plant also returned to civilian production and resumed its refinement and development of home appliances. It developed a color finishing process for aluminum and introduced new products like popcorn poppers. However, when the Korean War broke out in 1950, aluminum, as well as copper and steel, again became a restricted material. Although West Bend continued limited manufacture of products for civilian consumption, it also produced such military items as cartridge cases, powder tanks, rocket containers, and gas-mask canisters. After the war ended in 1953, West Bend continued defense production, notably with an army contract to make ammunition. In 1961 it dropped "Aluminum" from its name to reflect its use of a variety of materials, such as plastics, copper, steel, and brass.
My percolator says "West Bend Aluminum" on the bottom, so it's most likely from the late 1950s up through 1961. I was surprised that it sat there unsold through the entire sale. I guess it was destined to be mine. Once I got it back home, I opened up he bottom to make sure that it was electrically sound. I didn't want there to be any damaged insulation that would allow the metal body to become energized. There were no problems.
Right now, I make coffee in a sauce pan and pour it into the Proctor-Silex. I serve it (to myself) from the percolator.
My new percolator has a dent in it. I might be able to pull it out with a hammer and dolly. I bought it to use it, though, and not to sit on a shelf as an example of how people used to live. I will use it wisely -- and get around to fixing the old one.
