This thread IS awesome, if not only to be able to see how these things were advertised "new"!

The Sama Export / Lusso tagline was "Like at the bar(coffee shop)!"

pootoogoo wrote: Method 1:
39000 Lira (1971) for an Europiccola -> 525 USD (2013)
53200 Lira (1971) for an Quick Mill -> 715 USD (2013)

Method 2:
39000 Lira (1971) for an Europiccola -> 350 USD (2015)
53200 Lira (1971) for an Quick Mill -> 480 USD (2015)

It is worth noting that this particular image is actually a Christmas brochure, so the prices listed could actually be slightly discounted over the normal selling price of that time.

pootoogoo wrote:What about the Caravel cost back in the 70s ?
I may have the answer, thanks to Francesco again: he sent me a price without a date. The brochure says between 46900 and 35900 Lira.

The list price is 46900 Lira, the lower price is the "discounted" price for also buying a coffee subscription from Caravel.

When did the closed boiler dipper levers enter the home market? The Gilda ad seems to imply that in 1952 closed boiler dipper levers weren't yet on the market:

GILDA means
-complete and balanced utilization of the coffee blend
-Ease of use
-Ease of disassembly and cleaning of the device
-Energy savings
-The exclusion of steam and the preparation of a true coffee infusion. Excluding steam allows a chemically pure infusion of coffee to be obtained. All of the harmful tannic acids and and bitter and unpleasant tasting substances are removed while the coffee aromas are extracted. The resulting drink is more aromatic, more dense, and more hygienic than the normal espresso.

I also didn't know my moka pot was extracting "harmful tannic acids" at 2 bar that a piston lever wouldn't at 9 bar.

Nice thread..

About the harmful tannines; it just shows that markering always has been blowing hot air

I'm not sure though what the prices mean, post war Italy was probably quite different from post war US. If the $ prices are for understanding they make sense but when comparing prices from Italy way back when we would need something like a hamburger index wouldn't we?
Better probably, an espresso index

When I was trying to find out what a Faemina would have cost relative to the net income in the fifties I came across this article
http://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/PSLQua ... 1063/10939
(I for sure was not able to deduct what spending money Italians would have left back then, as that says more about how expensive espresso machines were than just a price tag)

Sure, a good complementary information will be the historical average wage in Italy.
I tried to find the information but got just sparse results so far. I'll look to your document marcelnl.

If I'm right it is there, but I did not fully understand the context (as in what it means for expendable net income).
Just found a reference to net (as in after taxes) salaries in the Netherlands in the early seventies(yet unable to find references for the fifties)....a whopping 305 guilders a month that would make a faemina a high income toy for sure!
To me it helps using my pre Euro currency as I can better relate that to other historical prices here.

With the currency calculator I found out that a Faemina would likely have cost 286 guilders in 1955, which is IF the price would be the same because in those days import duties etc were surely affecting prices outside Italy.

just shows me that in home Espresso likely always has been something for those in the higher income brackets, I do not see workers with an average income after taxes of approx 300 taking out 286 for an Espresso machine.
As a reference, Some time ago I picked up a beautiful bakelite tube radio from 1955, that one did cost a whopping 245 guilders....also a high income toy I guess....

I am lovin' this thread with all the vintage ads. So maybe I'm sitting on a pot of gold after all ... lol.

I found that, that may help:


[source: Svalutazione e salari (ad usum piddini)]

It shows that salaries in Italy during the 50s were about 30% of what it is today, in the 60s between 30 and 50% and in the 70s between 50 and 85% of what it is today. (Well, if I understood properly the definition of "salario reale" ).

It correspond to what Francesco told me: a home lever machine was about half of a teacher's (monthly) payroll back in the sixties. It seems that it is about the same today [ref]... except for the Cremina.

Hehe i am a teacher, new all of the levers cost 1/2 or more of my salary, on the lowest end

The blue line in that graph basically represents buying power. Buying power is a function of both income (after taxes) and the price of goods and services. The 60's and 70's were an economic boom in Italy, lots of new construction, but since the early 80's buying power has leveled off. Most of my friends and family gripe that it has actually gotten worse since the euro, even if this graph doesn't show that.

I think the Europiccola is a good machine to look at for comparing the relative cost of machines from then and now since it has been in production nearly unchanged (relatively speaking) for 55 years or so. In 1971 it cost between $350 to $500 USD 2015 dollars. In the US a new unit is slightly more than double that. However, in Italy you can buy a new Europiccola for 350€ to 500€, basically the same price as 40 years ago. With a little less than half the buying power back then, a new Europiccola would have cost in Italy then what it does in the US today. Europiccolas in Italy cost about half now what they did back then in terms of buying power.