Coffee Innovation from a Philadelphia Machine (1954)

Video of the Month
Monday, July 23, 2018

Few things hold widespread affection like a cup of coffee. In this month’s video of the month, we're examining a mid-century innovation that added ease in satisfying the coffee urge.

Our featured video comes from the "Industry on Parade" series which was sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers. The series was created for television and launched in 1950. By 1956, the series could be seen on more than 270 television stations across the country. Read more about it here).

In a particular segment from episode 262 of the series, the producers featured a Philadelphia business that manufactured coffee vending machines: Rudd-Melikian Inc. Founded in 1946 by K. Cyrus Melikian and Lloyd K. Rudd, two engineers who met while serving in the Army during the Second World War. Here is the clip from 1954 about the company that also includes a "Message from Industry to You..." about health on the job:

Reminiscent of the founding stories we often hear about the famous tech companies of the 21st century, Reid and Melikan built their first coffee vending machine in a Philadelphia garage. After connecting with a local investor they built a manufacturing facility on Howard Street in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

In 1948, they reported two million dollars in earnings and an annual $100,000 investment in research for development of vending technology and improvements to the quality of their coffee.

The company went public in the 1950s and by 1965 they reported seven million dollars of earnings while employing a staff of 300. In 1967, the partners sold the company which then become Refreshment Machinery Inc.

Rudd retired to California. Melikian continued to work in the industry and launched a new company, Automatic Brewers & Coffee Devices, Inc., that continued to invent and innovate in the field. Among their many contributions is the now ubiquitous coffee pod used in single cup coffee makers.

Cyrus Melikian was awarded the Person of the Year Award by the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal in 2002. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 88.

His son Bob Melikian continues his father’s work as president of Automatic Brewers and Coffee Devices located in Conshohocken, a suburb of Philadelphia. 

Sources

3 New Products to Follow Coffee Vending Machines,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 April 1949.

Cyrus Melikian, Vending and Coffee Pioneer, dies at 88,” Vending Times, 4 December 2008. [Accessed July 2018]

After 69 years, coffee makers have ‘grounds’ for success.” Chestnut Hill Local, 5 November 2015. [Accessed July 2018]

Q&A: Bob Melikian - Fill and pack pioneer,” STiR: Global Insight on Coffee and Tea, 27 February 2017. [Accessed July 2018]

Single-Cup Pioneer Cy Melikian Recalls Genesis Of Espresso 'Pod' As ABCD Gears Up To Meet Growing OCS Specialty Coffee Demand,” Vending Times, 16 July 2018. [Accessed July 2018]

Related Material

For a different look at the vending business around this time, take a look at a sales film from Hagley’s collection produced by the Rowe Manufacturing Company about their candy machine. Hagley also has a photograph album from the Automatic Merchandising Company who manufactured and sold a variety of vending machines.


Kevin J. Martin is the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Audiovisual and Digital Collections at Hagley Museum and Library.

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