Moka Express
Ninety years ago, Alfonso Bialetti created one of the most iconic objects of Italian design, bringing espresso into homes. Hundreds of millions of his Moka pots have been sold since then, thanks to an innovative advertising strategy.
The Moka Express - the pressure stovetop coffee maker that allowed anyone to make a good old espresso at home.
The Moka pot is named after the city of Mocha in Yemen - one of the very first coffee production areas. The idea for the design is said to have come to Bialetti while watching his wife do laundry with an old lisciveuse - a simple but effective ancestor of the washing machine that consisted of a pot in which water was boiled and then released through a pipe, mixed with lye and soap, onto the clothes to be washed.
This is where engineer, Alfonso Bialetti drew inspiration to create his legendary coffee maker. In an octagonal aluminium pot - a material dear to the futurists at the time - water heats up and rises until it meets the ground coffee deposited int he funnel-shaped filter where it absorbs the aroma and colour before settling in the other half of the pot.
A simple but brilliant idea. So brilliant in fact, that the Moka quickly became one of the most popular Italian design objects in the world. But the Moka, with its unique Art Deco design, also gained popularity thanks to a highly innovative advertising strategy conceived by the founders son, Renato and carried out by cartoonist Paul Campani. In 1953, inspired by Renato Bialetti’s appearance, Campani created the iconic “little man with a moustache”. This character immediately won the public’s affection and was one of the first examples of an entrepreneur directly participating in the promotion of one of their products, even if it was in an ironic and cartoonish way.
Peter Gower NZ Ltd has kindly sponsored some of these iconic Bialetti mokas to giveaway as part of the Festival this year. Subscribe to our newsletter and be in to win!
“See how little it takes to make a man happy: a half cup of coffee …”. With these words Eduardo De Fillippo concluded his famous monologue in the second act of the Italian comedy film ‘Ghosts, Italian Style’.