COFFEE Coffea arabica
Coffee, a valuable crop that originated in Ethiopia, is widely grown by poor people in the tropics but consumed by richer people in the northern temperate countries so they can stay alert and productive. The cover of a 1931 promotional booklet tells the history of coffee. It shows the coffee tree covered in white blossoms which turn into ripe berries ready to be picked. (HFHA Collection)

The Bedouin people of the Arabian Peninsula developed strong coffee drinking customs. Their portable gear suited their nomadic life. It includes a brass coffee pot, porcelain cups stacked in a brass canister, a long handled roasting pan, a larger brass pot for boiling the water and an incense holder. (HFHA Collection)

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This 19th century advertising trade card shows coffee cultivation of the last century in Brazil, still today a major producer of coffee. . (HFHA Collection)

 

Hand cranked coffee grinders were common kitchen items prior to the 1950's supermarket success in packaging fresh ground coffees. . (HFHA Collection)