Coffee shop

“ To meet this necessity, the coffee-house bill of fare was greatly extended, and now quite a variety of nutritious and substantial dishes are provided, and each at the uniform price of five cents. The main feature—the coffee—is, however, preserved. A full pint mug of the best Java (equal to two ordinary cups) with pure, rich milk and white sugar, and two ounces of either wheat or brown bread, all for five cents, is the every-day lunch of many a man who, but for this provision, would be found in the dram shop. ”

“ Were you to visit the second-story cafés, whose gay window-boxes look so inviting from the [122] street, you would find games of chess and checkers in progress at this hour, and more than one merchant who had stolen from his shop to have a look at the “Prager Tagblatt” over a glass of Pilsener or “three fingers” of the plum brandy they call slivovitz or a dram of tshai—which is tea and rum—or a cup of tee—which is just plain tea and cream. Coffee and chocolate, of course, would be found in general demand. ”

“ He craves a stronger liquor, and believing he can only get it at the publichouse, he returns there. In the same way a poor working woman, exhausted by long hours of toil in a confined workroom or foetid dwelling, finds that the weak washy fluid too often sold under the name of tea will not allay the 'sinking' of which she complains, and she too returns to the dram shop. Yet coffee and tea of excellent quality, strong and fragrant, may be sold to a fair profit at 1d. per cup, holding half-a-pint, and a wholesome, though less nutritious, beverage at 1d. ”

“ A plain room, divided into plain stalls by varnished partitions, and fitted with plain Pembroke tables, papers, periodicals, and magazines, not quite guiltless of coffee stains and bread-and-butter spots, a neat waitress, economical of speech, and who is forever ringing the changes between two refrains of “coffee and slice,” and “tea and an hegg”—are common to all coffee-houses. There is more deal in some, more mahogany in others; there are aristocratic coffee-houses, where they serve you silver salt-castors with your muffins, and silver cream-jugs with your coffee ”

“ Distribution of roasted coffees outside Chicago and Kansas City is accomplished [Pg 525] through the medium of more than one hundred stock depots in as many different cities of the United States.
To operate the world's greatest coffee business is no small undertaking; and when this is coupled with an important sugar-refining business and a waterfront warehouse-and-terminal business, plenty of room is needed. So we find the plant along the Brooklyn waterfront occupying an area of a dozen city blocks. ”

“ Since the advent of the wagon-route distributer and the chain store, the independent retail grocer has been faced with the problem of how to regain at least a fair measure of the coffee trade he has lost. The grocer is not only concerned about his profits on coffee sales, but on other goods as well; for a trade investigation has shown that a large percentage of the regular customers of the retailer are held to the store by their purchases of coffee and tea. ”

“ It was stupid custom which insisted that any and every transaction should be carried out at a tavern, where continual sipping made men unfit for business. Coffee, on the contrary, was a "wakeful" drink. And the company of the coffee-house enabled its frequenter to follow the proper study of man, mankind. The triumphant conclusion was that a well-regulated coffee-house was "the sanctuary of health, the nursery of temperance, the delight of frugality, an academy of civility, and free-school of ingenuity." ”

“ Some expert blends are to be found among the leading package brands. But you really can not do better than to trust your case to a first-class grocer of known reputation. He will guide you right if he knows his business; and if he doesn't, then he doesn't know his business—try elsewhere. Test him out along this line:
Let us reason together, Mr. Grocer. Let us consider these facts about coffee: green coffee improves with age? Granted. As soon as it is roasted, it begins to lose in flavor and aroma? Certainly. Grinding hastens the deterioration? ”

“ It is not to be undermined by representations that ground coffee bought by the package has lost much of its original value with time, and is, furthermore, shamefully adulterated. What your richer neighbors use ought to satisfy you, especially when discontent with it entails worry and labor upon herself. I repeat it: If you must have irreproachable coffee, look to it in person.
Next to this process in excellence is the plan of purchasing, a pound at a time, freshly-ground coffee from a trustworthy grocer, whose mill goes every day ”

“ When taking up the retail merchandising of coffee, the practical grocer learns all he can about the popular grades to be had in the principal markets, and how the coffees are grown, roasted, blended, and ground. He also ascertains the best methods of brewing, testing out each grade and kind on his own table, if he does not have testing facilities in his store. He studies the relative trade values of different varieties of coffee, and the requirements of his particular clientèle. ”

“ The awning is a protection for the customer not against the sun—a luminary from whose assaults the London coffee-stalls have little to fear—but against the rain. Thanks to these awnings, and the chattiness of the fat, jolly man, and the warmth exhaled by the urns, and the circumstance that the public houses are shut, our coffee-stalls are able to sell two brownish beverages, called respectively coffee and tea, which otherwise could hardly hope to achieve the honour of human consumption. ”

“ It was obviously impossible to pour out his own coffee and leave her the remainder. Should he ring for the waiter? No, the coffee should act as master of the ceremonies and bridge the gulf between them. Placing the coffee-pot and the milk-jug on the hearth, he waited, substituting a cigarette for his briar, lest its rich, juicy note might prove unmusical to feminine ears. For ten minutes he waited. Had the waiter merely made a mistake in bringing two cups instead of one? Possibly at this very moment she was enjoying her coffee in the dining-room. ”

“ Her special business is to make everybody happy; to crack the great white sugar-loaf into bits with a pair of pincers—no machine-made dominoes for Lemois—and to turn the coffee-roaster—an old-fashioned, [13] sheet-iron drum swinging above a brazier of hot coals—and to cool its contents by tossing them in a pan—much as an Egyptian girl winnows wheat. It is a pity you never tasted her coffee, served in the garden—old Leà on the run with it boiling-hot to your table. ”

“ Most of the retail enterprises in other lines of trade have built up their business on the penny-change plan; and many coffee men believe this should become the universal merchandising method among retail distributers of coffee. ”

“ In this system, the proprietor buys the green coffee in large quantities, and it is roasted in each of his specialty stores, which are located in public markets, store windows, and alongside heavily traveled highways. The roasting machinery is invariably set up in front of the store where passers-by can easily see it in operation—and also smell the coffee roasting. ”

“ XXVIII. JOHNNY APPLESEED
I built a fire by the roadside opposite the palatial hotel and made our coffee. “It’s like lighting a fire and making yourself a personal cup of coffee on Broadway,” said Lindsay, “but it’s fine.” It’s a dramatic act and startles the imagination. The coffee-pot could be made the emblem of revolt—“Go West, young man, with a coffee-pot. You can live on nothing a year with a coffee-pot. Figure it out, how little money you need to live in the wilds!”
[178] Vachel is all for giving the business man and clerk and industrial worker a three-months’ vacation. ”

“ The fame of the good coffee, which was better than most people found at home, spread far and near, and larger and larger numbers of clerks, workingmen and others, turned their steps daily, at lunch time, towards the Central Coffee-House. It was so much better than the poor stuff served in most of the eating-houses; and, with the sweet roll added, so much better than the free lunch and glass of beer or whisky with which too many had been accustomed to regale themselves. ”

“ But the superlative coffee of the Broad Street Station lunch counter generally lures me on.
What mundane joy can surpass the pleasure of approaching the station lunch counter, with full ten minutes to satisfy a morning appetite! “Morning, colonel,” says the waiter, recognizing a steady customer. “Wheatcakes and coffee,” you cry. With one deft gesture, it seems, he has handed you a glass brimming with ice water and spread out a snowy napkin. In another moment here is the coffee, with the generous jug of cream. You splash in a large lump of ice to make it cool enough to drink. ”

“ Near the coffee-houses are one or two cataracts several feet high, and the perpetual sound of their fall, and the coolness they spread around, are exquisite luxuries—in the heat of day, or in the dimness of evening. There are two or three Cafés constructed somewhat differently from those just described: a low gallery divides the platform from the tide; fountains play on the floor, which is furnished with very plain sofas and cushions; and music and dancing always abound, of the most unrefined description. ”

“ The coffee-house where well-made, unadulterated coffee might be obtained would be a formidable rival to the gin-palace. As it is, however, the art of making coffee—if ever possessed at all in England—has been so completely lost that the increasing disuse of the beverage is no matter of surprise. ”

“ It would seem that the logical place for sampling is in the retailer's store, especially in connection with demonstrations. Many progressive grocers stimulate interest in their coffees by serving, on special demonstration days, small cups of freshly brewed coffee, giving the customer a small sample of the brand or blend used, to be taken home to see if the same pleasing results can be obtained there also. ”

“ The question that naturally arises with all who look practically at this matter is, whether there is any profit in the business of keeping a cheap temperance coffee-house? Can a pint of coffee, with sugar, milk and a two-ounce roll of bread, be furnished for five cents and leave any margin for profit? Mr. Baily's experiment has proved that it can.
FRIENDLY INNS.
But not alone in Philadelphia is the cheap coffee-house to be found. There are hundreds of them in our various towns and cities, though none on so large a scale as here; and they are rapidly multiplying and doing good. ”

“ But, being located near the Meal Market, where the merchants were wont to gather for trading purposes, it gradually became the meeting place of the city, at the expense of the Exchange coffee house, farther down the waterfront.
Merchants Coffee House (at the Right) as It Appeared from 1772 to 1804 The original coffee house of this name was opened on the northwest corner of Wall and Water Streets about 1737, the business being moved to the southeast corner in 1772
Widow Ferrari presided over the original Merchants coffee house for fourteen years, until she moved across the street. ”

“ At strategic points, they have district agents [Pg 416] who engage the wagon men that do the actual soliciting of orders and that deliver the coffee. All wagon-route companies handle other products besides coffee, specializing in tea, spices, extracts, and such household goods as soap, perfumes, and other toilet requisites that promise a quick sale and frequent re-orders. Some of their competitors complain that they handle only the more profitable lines, leaving the independent local grocer to supply the housekeeper with the items on which the margin of profit is comparatively small. ”

“ I give an excellent Coffee, made of five parts chicory, and one of Mocha, supplied at a cheap rate by a House in the City, which owes me money, and is paying it off in this way, with skim-milk added, in moderation, and no sugar. None of the orphans has ever complained of my Coffee. I should like to catch them doing so. It is nonsense to say the art of coffee-making is unknown in England. ”

“ The surprised youth arose, made and served the coffee. As they received it each one arose. The first one said: “In whatever coffeehouse this youth chooses to be, may the coffee and sugar boxes never be empty! May their contents continue level with the top!”
The second dervish said: “In whatever coffeehouse this youth chooses to be, may customers never be lacking! Like ants may they flock thither!” ”

“ In the year 1791 an association of merchants was organized for the purpose of constructing a more commodious Coffee House than the Merchants’ Coffee House, and to provide a business centre for the mercantile community. ”

“ In some parts of London women leaving the factory at midday may often be seen taking a cold and unsatisfying meal in the open air—on a doorstep or in a corner, anywhere—exposed to the inclemency of the weather. Wherever suitable coffee-room accommodation has been provided for them, working women have gladly availed themselves of it. One of the houses of the People's Café Company in High Street, Whitechapel, has many customers of this class. ”