La Pavoni History  by Francesco

La Pavoni S.p.A. was founded in Milan in 1905 thanks to Desiderio Pavoni in a little workshop at Via Parini. His first invention was patented by Luigi Bezzera, on 1st September 1902, duly registered at the Milan State office on 19th September 1903, and gave life to the first espresso coffee machine for bar called "Ideale".This system of obtaining the coffee and the mechanics of the machines remained the same till the post-war period, although it sometimes created a sour, "burnt" taste, caused by the fact that - while brewing - steam (in addition to water) was let through the coffee.

In 1948 a new system was introduced. Water was taken from the boiler under pressure. It was then filtered through the coffee by means of a piston pushed by a spring at ten bars pressure; the coffee no longer had that burnt taste.

In 1948 La Pavoni manufactured its first machine with horizontal boiler.

This project was conceived by Gio Ponti, Antonio Fornaroli and Alberto Rosselli, whose cooperation gave birth to model 47 called "LA CORNUTA" ("The horn") because of its brewing groups standing out from the cylindrical boiler body.

1956 saw the creation of the "Concorso" series. This was a project developed by Bruno Munari and Enzo Mari, where the body has a particular design; the modular geometrical parts, put together, enable the building of machines with more than one group, in which the stress is put on the colour matching.

In 1961 the so-called "Brewing" commercial machine was introduced onto the market. Water from the mains (rather than the boiler), after flowing through the water softener, with the help of a pump at about 9 bars pressure, passes through the exchanger pipes in the boiler. The temperature always remains the same, water heats up and - through the brewing groups - is directed onto the pressed coffee, obtaining one or two cups of tasty and creamy coffee.

The cooperation between Alberto Rosselli and Angelo Tito Anselmi gave life in 1961 to a model called "BRASILIA". The side panels - the same for all models - support the front panel, the dimensions of which vary according to the number of groups.

In the same year, 1961, developing an idea by a Milanese artisan, the first electrical machine for domestic use was created. This machine could it to brew espresso coffee and hot drinks, just like the way they were made in the coffee bar. That machine was called "Europiccola".
e design.

In 1974, the "Europiccola" was coupled with the new machine, the "Professional", whose boiler enabled to obtain 16 coffees to be made consecutively. This model was equipped with a manometer indicating the boiler pressure.

(extract from www.lapavoni.com)

HISTORY OF EUROPICCOLA & PROFESSIONAL MODELS

In 1961, Europiccola was launched on the market.

Never had a name been so suitably selected, since the strengths of the machine were in its really small sizes (piccola means “small”), which was to remain over the years a point of reference for the home production.

A tiny coffee bar machine with a lever-operated unit and a boiler. Europiccola was an immediate success, also at a European level.

It was already exhibited in 1961 Strasburg trade fair. As all leading and successful models, Europiccola underwent several restyling sessions: first in 1962,

then in 1965

 and the absolutely perfect shape with its small lever was to have a run of successes to this day.

It took up to 1974 before the Professional model was born: it was larger compared to Europiccola, but displayed the same shape and the same memorable lever. The Professional model allowed the preparation of a double amount of coffee; the introduction of a manometer,

besides improving its looks, enabled detection at any time of the pressure inside the boiler.

The home range constantly includes the production of the historical lever-operated models Europiccola and Professional, which are always extremely popular. This is not merely a commercial success, but also the result of a broader media and communication operation which Pavoni has conducted in an extremely intelligent way over the last twenty years and which has yielded significantly superior results compared to the expected outcome.

When Pavoni decided to continue investing in the production of these machines, which (we need to acknowledge) are elitist and difficult articles, light-years away from the mass marketing logic, it was only led by the desire to continue producing high-value and high-quality machines, a choice that is not much diff e rent from that of a stylist who continues to believe in the importance of the Haute Couture, even though he invoices above all Pret-à-porter. But the outcome of this decision is quite different: the Pavoni lever-operated machines create and fuel their own myth. These machines, which are aesthetically attractive, satisfy the need for “an ancient beauty and a retro taste” typical of our years and, at the same time, they revive the charm and poetry of “making oneself a cup of coffee” which has little to do with pressing the button of a superautomatica!

For years now both Europiccola and Professional have been presented in different versions to satisfy the taste of those who like a refined machine by the plain design, with elements in copper, brass and wood.

A Pavoni Professional model from 1974 makes a fine show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Will this authorise us to describe it as a work of art? Providing an answer to this question would really be too difficult; it would at least involve a clear definition of what art is and what it not is. At a time in which rules are no longer available, the question becomes even more complicated.

We are however in a position to state that this is a successful machine and, even though we are unable to state for certain that it is a work of art, we can at least safely say that it is something that meets with people’s desire.

In today’s world, the cinema is par excellence the place in which the collective unconscious projects its desires.

Cinema is an art which is more topical than ever, capable through images to show us what we whish to see (especially if we consider a certain sector of American or at least commercial cinema); and movies are circumstances in which La Pavoni has made its appearance.

We find the Professional and Europiccola models in many Hollywood productions from the ‘70s to today: “007 Live and let die” in 1973; “Ransom” in 1996; “The talented Mr. Ripley” in 1999; “About a boy” in 2001, to name but a few.

 The Pavoni machines have had very special endorsers from the most varied fields: Nobel-prize holder Renato Dulbecco, the singer Janet Jackson, the king of Sweden… The worldwide presence of lever-operated machines, which are sold all over the world and in the best-known points of sale (such as Harrods, for instance), is estimated to be in the range of 400-500,000 pieces. Some of these machines are more than thirty years old (here is what quality can merely consist of!). So, long live the lever-operated machines! 

© 2008-2010 Francesco Ceccarelli All rights reserved.
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