Melitta | 1953

“Schnell soll es gehen, mit Liebe geschehen” (It should be quick, and done with love). In this ad from November 1953, a father pours hot water while his son turns the hand grinder, and the copy explains that coffee needs three minutes “to collect itself”.

The story began in Dresden. Melitta Bentz, a housewife tired of the bitter grounds in her cup, lined a perforated brass pot with blotting paper. On 20 June 1908 she registered her coffee filter with the Imperial Patent Office, and in December that year her company was entered in the commercial register. It moved to Minden, in Westphalia, in 1929, and in 1936 the filter took on its tapered shape. In the ad the porcelain filter bears the number 102, still a Melitta size today.

The last line is the most revealing: grain, malt and blended coffee “filter in the same time”. In 1953 real bean coffee was still a luxury in West Germany, so heavily taxed that thousands of tonnes were smuggled in from Belgium. That same year the government cut the coffee tax sharply.

Melitta is still run by the founder’s family, now in its fourth generation.

Text in the ad

Melitta-Tips für Kaffeegenießer
Schnell soll es gehen, mit Liebe geschehen
Nur 3 Minuten dauert das Melittafiltern. Soviel Zeit braucht Bohnenkaffee, um sich zu besinnen und sein Aroma voll zu entfalten. Gönnen Sie dem Kaffee diese Zeit, sonst mißhandeln Sie ihn. Übrigens, auch Korn-, Malz- und Mischkaffee filtern in der gleichen Zeit.
Melittafiltern
dann schmeckt Ihr Kaffee …!

Translation:
Melitta tips for coffee lovers
It should be quick – and done with love
Melitta filtering takes only 3 minutes. That is how long real bean coffee needs to collect itself and fully release its aroma. Give your coffee this time, or you mistreat it. By the way, grain, malt and blended coffee filter in the same time.
Melitta filtering
then your coffee tastes …!

Brand

Melitta

Year

1953

Decade

1950s

Country

Germany

Medium

Magazine

Themes

Food, Home