A different kind of Parker

[edgarspencer]

Charles Parker made over 60 different models of coffee and spice mills. The smallest model with wheels was the 200, which was a nearly identical copy of the Enterprise (Phila, PA) mill. None of the wheel models had wooden hoppers, which were used on the counter top Box mills.
The large floor model 2180 is also nearly identical to the floor model Enterprise, which seems to bring less, despite being more rare.
The 700 only came with the tin funnel hopper.
When Allan Swanson was liquidating his collection, I took a friend up to Weathersfield to buy all of them. I got an original paint 700 from that trip, and My friend bought the 6' tall, 275 pound 2180 and the 2120. Swanson claimed the 2120 came from a grocer in Meriden
Short of having one of the rare catalogs, the best array of coffee mill photos begins on page 972 of TPS.

[MrBojangles]

Originally Posted by edgarspencer

Charles Parker made over 60 different models of coffee and spice mills. The smallest model with wheels was the 200, which was a nearly identical copy of the Enterprise (Phila, PA) mill. None of the wheel models had wooden hoppers, which were used on the counter top Box mills.
The large floor model 2180 is also nearly identical to the floor model Enterprise, which seems to bring less, despite being more rare.
The 700 only came with the tin funnel hopper.
When Allan Swanson was liquidating his collection, I took a friend up to Weathersfield to buy all of them. I got an original paint 700 from that trip, and My friend bought the 6' tall, 275 pound 2180 and the 2120. Swanson claimed the 2120 came from a grocer in Meriden
Short of having one of the rare catalogs, the best array of coffee mill photos begins on page 972 of TPS.

How about a few photographs?

I didn’t know there were 60 different models—I’ll have to review my copy of TPS and brush up on these.

When I brought it home, my wife was surprised as to the size of the No. 700. She had hoped it was a cute little thing she could almost hide behind a mug.

[edgarspencer]

Kitchen counter space is my wife's territory, which I have learned even a 1/2" wrench is forbidden. The 200, being the smallest of the wheel (9") grinders and is very much a usable size. I have an Enterprise of the same dimensions, but my wife prefers Petes Big Bang. Coffee beans are more expensive than ground coffee, which makes as much sense as diesel being more expensive than gasoline. Personally I find any coffee at $14 per pound ridiculous. We have ditched our Cuisinart in favor of some German glass percolator. None of these old grinders yield ground coffee suitably fine enough for drip machines. She is so methodical about perk times, sitting there with her iPhone, timing it, but it sure is good.