Part 11 (1/2)

In the Cote d'Ivoire, as the French colony then was known, coffee had been harvested by forced labor since the 1920s. After World War II, African coffee grower Felix Houphouet-Boigny, elected to represent the Ivory Coast in the French a.s.sembly, sponsored a bill to abolish forced labor in the French colonies. With its pa.s.sage he became a hero. Houphouet-Boigny saw gold in coffee. ”If you don't want to vegetate in bamboo huts,” he said in a 1953 speech, ”concentrate your efforts on growing good cocoa and coffee. They will fetch a good price and you will become rich.” Small native coffee farms developed throughout the Ivory Coast. Its crop had always gone to France, where it was protected by favorable tax laws. With coffee prices up and U.S. roasters desperate for cheap robusta, however, the Ivory Coast exported coffee to North America (at 57 cents a pound) for the first time in 1954.

Other important robusta exporters were Uganda, Madagascar, Tanganyika, and the Belgian Congo. Asia produced robustas in India, Indonesia, and French Indochina (Vietnam), but an insignificant amount in comparison to Africa. In 1951 African coffee had accounted for 4.8 percent of U.S. coffee imports; by 1955 the figure had risen to 11.4 percent.

Hot Coffee, Cold War By February 1955 falling coffee prices had yet again panicked Latin America. Following Vargas's suicide, a group of U.S. banks loaned Brazil $200 million, but the country was forced to devalue the coffee cruzeiro cruzeiro anyway. Despite Brazil's attempt to bolster the market by holding back 9 million bags, prices continued to drop. American roasters allowed their stocks to dwindle, antic.i.p.ating even lower prices. The Colombian government slashed imports and ordered a partial devaluation. anyway. Despite Brazil's attempt to bolster the market by holding back 9 million bags, prices continued to drop. American roasters allowed their stocks to dwindle, antic.i.p.ating even lower prices. The Colombian government slashed imports and ordered a partial devaluation.

The head of the Colombian Coffee Federation tried to convince other Latin American countries to hold coffee off the market to boost the price, or at least keep it from sinking further. By June 1956 nineteen Latin American countries had agreed, only another frost in Parana put the quota plans on hold. A report from the Economic and Social Council of the Organization of American States (ECOSOC) to the Latin American heads of state predicted a growing surplus that threatened to bring a ”disastrous slump” in coffee prices unless governments set quotas and stockpiled coffee.

The report contained no startling news. What was was surprising was that Harold Randall, the U.S. State Department's representative on ECOSOC, signed it. Why did the State Department's stance against ”cartels” suddenly soften? The cold war, rather than a warm heart, drove the s.h.i.+fting U.S. policy toward coffee. ”A steep price fall might bring on dangerous economic and political crises,” one journalist observed, ”with tempting opportunities for local strongmen or Communist mischief-makers.” But when unseasonable Colombian rains created a temporary shortage in mild coffees and prices spiked briefly in 1956, the State Department pulled back. surprising was that Harold Randall, the U.S. State Department's representative on ECOSOC, signed it. Why did the State Department's stance against ”cartels” suddenly soften? The cold war, rather than a warm heart, drove the s.h.i.+fting U.S. policy toward coffee. ”A steep price fall might bring on dangerous economic and political crises,” one journalist observed, ”with tempting opportunities for local strongmen or Communist mischief-makers.” But when unseasonable Colombian rains created a temporary shortage in mild coffees and prices spiked briefly in 1956, the State Department pulled back.

While the African share of the coffee market continued to swell, economists predicted that Brazil would owe a whopping $1.1 billion in debt and interest payments over the next few years. In October 1957 the Brazilians joined six other Latin American coffee-producing countries in an export quota scheme.

In January 1958 the United States sent an ”observer” to a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, where Latin American and African growers joined in the 1958 Latin American Coffee Agreement with the ostensible aim of promoting increased consumption. Although the Africans were unwilling to limit their exports, Brazil agreed to withhold 40 percent of its crop, Colombia 15 percent, and other countries a smaller percentage.

In May, due to ”evidence that the Soviet Union is intensifying its economic and political offensive in many parts of the world, including Latin America,” according to a State Department official, Vice President Richard Nixon undertook a South American ”good will” tour. In Peru and Venezuela, Nixon was booed, spit at, stoned, and nearly killed amid cries of ”Muera Nixon! ” (”Death to Nixon!”). ” (”Death to Nixon!”).

In the wake of the Nixon incidents, State Department officials began to pay informal calls on Latin American emba.s.sies for coffee chats. Over 50 million bags were being processed for sale, while the world consumed only 38 million bags. In the United States the price of roasted coffee fell below 70 cents a pound. ”An economic setback [to Latin American coffee growers] may . . . topple governments friendly to the United States,” warned Colombian coffee representative Andres Uribe. ”The forces dedicated to the overthrow of the entire free world would gladly take advantage of such a situation.”

Regular Robusta Even with falling prices, the U.S. roasters locked themselves into coupon deals, premium offers, and price wars. Robusta crept into regular blends, with new bargain brands selling 20 cents or even 30 cents below the leaders and containing 30 percent or more robusta. ”One hesitates to speak of these poorer coffees as 'blends,'” wrote a coffee expert. ”It seems almost like a form of deception to pack low-quality coffees in the expensive vacuum tins.” In response to the cheaper blends, General Foods began adding a small percentage of robusta to Maxwell House, and soon the other major brands followed suit. By the end of 1956 robustas accounted for over 22 percent of world coffee exports. In 1960 the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange abrogated its long-standing ban on robusta.

The five big roasters-General Foods, Standard Brands, Folger's, Hills Brothers, and A & P-now accounted for well over 40 percent of the market. Larger regional roasters gobbled up others in order to compete. The 1,000-plus wartime roasters dwindled to 850. Those who wanted to survive had to practice economies of scale and save labor through mechanization.

Size, speed, and efficiency seemed the only way to survive in the chain store business too. Ever-larger supermarkets offered ever-cheaper goods. A & P still predominated, but it failed to adjust to this new reality. In 1958, when the chain reached $5 billion in annual sales, the company went public. 87 87 By that time other supermarket chains were challenging the venerable leader. While A & P still accounted for a full third of the major chain sales, its smaller, older stores each sold an average $4,000 less per week than the compet.i.tors. In the mid-1950s, General Foods pa.s.sed A & P to become the largest U.S. coffee importer. By that time other supermarket chains were challenging the venerable leader. While A & P still accounted for a full third of the major chain sales, its smaller, older stores each sold an average $4,000 less per week than the compet.i.tors. In the mid-1950s, General Foods pa.s.sed A & P to become the largest U.S. coffee importer.

By 1958 most instant coffees contained at least 50 percent robusta beans, and many of the cheaper brands used 100 percent robusta. Moreover, the manufacturers were squeezing the beans unmercifully. At first, six pounds of green coffee were used to make one pound of instant. By overextracting every soluble component, it then took only four pounds of raw beans. Through hydrolysis, insoluble starch and cellulose were converted into soluble carbohydrates.

To counteract their coffee's ever-worsening taste, the instant manufacturers added back some aroma. When subjected to enormous pressure-50,000 pounds per square inch-roasted coffee beans exuded oil that, in tiny amounts, gave soluble coffee an illusory fresh-roasted scent. When a housewife opened a jar of instant coffee, it let off a brief burst of aroma; then it was gone. The cup of instant did not smell or taste any better.

Coffee dispensed by vending machines was equally bad. Even though the machines now could brew fresh coffee on demand, the temptation to use more robusta was overwhelming. The vendors also economized by using dry powdered cream, which lent a slightly burnt taste to the brew. To compete successfully, a bitter roaster said, a vending machine firm ”talks quality, thinks acceptability, and plans somehow to cut corners.”

The Chock-Full Miracle In the middle of this fierce compet.i.tion, with its low quality standards, a New York nut vendor and restaurateur proved that a new quality brand could triumph. In 1926, after graduating with an engineering degree from Columbia University, William Black couldn't find a job. Noticing the crowds in New York City's theater district, Black opened a nut stand in a bas.e.m.e.nt at Broadway and Forty-third Street, calling it Chock full o' Nuts. Within six years he owned a chain of eighteen such stores, all in Manhattan. When the Depression hit, even sh.e.l.led nuts seemed a luxury, so Black converted his stores to quick-order luncheonettes, offering a nut-ted cheese sandwich on whole wheat raisin bread, along with coffee, each for a nickel. Later he added soup and pie to the menu.

By the 1950s Black owned twenty-five restaurants in New York City. When coffee prices went up, Black, like other restaurant owners, held to a 5-cent cup of coffee by watering the brew. He soon broke ranks, however, raising his price and announcing that he refused to compromise on quality.

Then, in October 1953, he astonished the coffee trade by coming out with his own brand, Chock full o' Nuts, in the midst of the price crisis brought on by the great Brazilian frost. Everyone thought it would flop, particularly with such a stupid name. Maybe Chock full o' Beans-but nuts? In addition his cans were colored an ugly yellow and black. Furthermore, when other coffees offered several grinds for different kinds of brewing devices, Black advertised his ”All Method Grind.” There was method to his madness, however-and his grind. With supermarket shelving at a premium, his one can-one grind required less s.p.a.ce.

Black understood the power of advertising. In radio spots that blanketed the New York metropolitan airwaves, Black's second wife, Jean Martin, sang a hummable jingle: Chock full o' Nuts is that heavenly coffee, Heavenly coffee, heavenly coffee.

Chock full o' Nuts is that heavenly coffee- Better coffee Rockefeller's money can't buy.

By August 1954, less than a year after its debut, Chock full o' Nuts had grabbed third place among vacuum-packed coffees in New York City. Nelson Rockefeller, who owned a number of Latin American coffee concerns, did not appreciate his family name being used to promote someone else's coffee. He sued. William Black simply changed the words of the jingle: ”Better coffee a millionaire's money can't buy.”

”Don't spend the extra money for this coffee,” Chock full o' Nuts ads advised, ”unless you're just plain crazy crazy about good coffee.” about good coffee.”88 Chock also resorted to a cla.s.sic coffee advertising strategy. Ads showed a woman with an inverted cup on her head and coffee streaming down her face. ”Men!” the ad proclaimed. ”Don't let it come to this! Win your fight for a decent cup of coffee without losing your temper!” Chock also resorted to a cla.s.sic coffee advertising strategy. Ads showed a woman with an inverted cup on her head and coffee streaming down her face. ”Men!” the ad proclaimed. ”Don't let it come to this! Win your fight for a decent cup of coffee without losing your temper!”

Black took pleasure in bluntness. ”I'm not as proud as I should be to announce that we're going into the instant coffee business,” he confessed at the Chock Instant launch. ”The very finest instant coffee is still a far cry from our regular coffee. Yet there are a lot of people who don't mind it.”

The brand expanded into Connecticut, Ma.s.sachusetts, and New Jersey. By the end of 1955 Chock full o' Nuts had nearly captured the lead in New York City. Black soon expanded northward throughout New England, upstate New York, and into Canada, and south into Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

An advocate of racial equality, Black hired retired baseball star Jackie Robinson as his personnel director in 1957. Over half his employees were African Americans. In 1958 Black took the company public, retaining control for himself.

In 1957 when his company auditor and lifelong friend contracted Parkinson's disease, Black created the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, funding it with an initial grant of $100,000. Three years later he gave an astounding $5 million to Columbia University for a medical research building. In doing so he challenged other wealthy men to give to worthy causes while they were still alive, thus avoiding the troubles inherited wealth caused. ”My children won't be badly off,” he said, ”but I'm not going to leave them millions.”

The Coffeehouse: A Saving Grace A few other regional roasters also produced quality coffee during this period, particularly Graffeo and Freed, Teller & Freed in San Francisco, and the M. E. Swing Company in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

With perfection of the modern espresso machine just after World War II, the Italian coffee bar proliferated. In Milan in 1945, Achille Gaggia invented a spring mechanism that drove hot water at high pressure through finely ground roasted coffee. The art of espresso-making then consisted of ”pulling a shot” to each customer's satisfaction. ”Its preparation,” wrote an American postwar journalist, ”partakes of the bravura of a tenor solo.” Though many of the monstrous old steam-valve machines with their gargoyles and dials still graced the counters, most bars now used the modern, low-slung versions.

The machines quickly found their way to Italian restaurants in New York and elsewhere. By the mid-1950s the Italian espresso craze had sparked a small coffeehouse revival, particularly in Greenwich Village, where bohemians, poets, artists, and beatniks could sip espresso at Reggio's, the Limelight, or the Peac.o.c.k. Such coffeehouses gave birth, as one nostalgic customer put it, to ”a generation that, for the price of an espresso, could imagine itself in the Europe that few of its members had ever seen.” The allure of the coffeehouse reached the North Beach area of San Francisco when window washer Giovanni Giotta opened the Caffe Trieste in 1957. In the back section, poets Allen Ginsburg and Bob Kaufman brooded over the faults of Eisenhower's America, while the Italians in the front laughed at them, wondering aloud, ”When are they gonna work?” Soon more coffeehouses appeared in San Francisco and other major cities.

A small market sprang up for home espresso, and specialty and department stores offered stovetop steam-pressure machines. New York regional coffee roaster Sam Schonbrunn, who already featured the high-quality Savarin, came out with Medaglia d'Oro, a dark-roasted, pulverized blend especially made for home espresso machines. Women's magazines offered numerous recipes for espres...o...b..sed drinks such as Caffe Borgia (equal parts espresso and hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream, sprinkled with grated orange peel), Caffe Anisette Royal (espresso with anisette, topped with whipped cream), or Cafe Brulot (espresso with spice and fruit peels, first flamed with brandy).

London Espresso Espres...o...b..rs took London by storm in the early fifties. In 1952 an Italian immigrant named Pino Riservato opened the Moka Bar in a bomb-damaged laundry in Soho, renovating it with ultramodern Formica. On opening day-and every day thereafter-the Moka Bar was mobbed, serving a thousand cups of coffee a day. Continental immigrants who had fled to England after the war were delighted to find straight shots of espresso again. The British customers preferred cappuccino, with its steamed, frothed milk. Within a year other espres...o...b..rs popped up in London, and by 1956 there were four hundred London espres...o...b..rs, with two new outlets opening every week. Others appeared in the provinces.

”People in this country are becoming very very coffee conscious,” one proprietor told a reporter in 1955. ”Our business is 99 percent coffee individually made for each patron.” At a s.h.i.+lling per demita.s.se-twice the going rate for regular coffee-it was a profitable undertaking. coffee conscious,” one proprietor told a reporter in 1955. ”Our business is 99 percent coffee individually made for each patron.” At a s.h.i.+lling per demita.s.se-twice the going rate for regular coffee-it was a profitable undertaking.

While espresso made inroads at the coffeehouses, however, it was instant coffee that found its way increasingly into the British home. Encouraged by tea rationing, which lasted over a decade beyond the war's end, Nestle mounted a vigorous print and billboard campaign for Nescafe, and Maxwell House wasn't far behind. In 1956, when tea auctions finally resumed, everyone expected a British tea renaissance, but it never occurred.

The debut of English commercial television that same year had an unexpected impact. To steep a good, traditional cup of tea requires five minutes, and the commercial breaks in the TV programs weren't that long. With telly spots touting the simplicity and goodness of Nescafe and Instant Maxwell House, British consumers began to switch to soluble coffee, which soon accounted for over 90 percent of retail coffee sales. In desperation, the tea companies abandoned the superior rolled tea, chopping it into bits for teabags that produced an inferior but quicker rust-red brew. Although tea remained the British drink, coffee was clearly on the rise.

European Coffee in the Fifties The continental European coffee industry, which survived the war mainly by producing coffee subst.i.tutes, had revived by the late 1950s. In 1956 European imports exceeded the 12 million-bag prewar level, and by 1960 imports topped 17 million bags.

The new espresso machines were popular in cafes in Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, though they simply fit into the preexisting coffee scene. Outside Switzerland (home of Nestle), instant coffee had yet to attract many European consumers, although Nescafe, now manufactured in nineteen countries, dominated world soluble sales outside the United States.89 Major European roasters began to dominate the picture. European home roasting practically disappeared, but whole-bean sales exceeded the ground, canned product. Major European roasters began to dominate the picture. European home roasting practically disappeared, but whole-bean sales exceeded the ground, canned product.

As West Germany got back on its economic feet, coffee consumption-mostly in the form of arabica-increased 15 percent annually. Bremen-based Jacobs Kaffee doubled its sales every two years. In 1949 Hamburg merchants Max Herz and Carl Tchilling-Hirrian founded the Tchibo company, supplying its Mocca Gold roasted coffee by mail.90 Jacobs responded by delivering coffee in its yellow-and-black VW vans, nicknamed ”Jacobs' b.u.mble Bees.” In 1955 Tchibo opened specialty coffee shops selling whole beans and sample cups of coffee. An avuncular ”coffee expert” helped establish the Tchibo image, while an elderly Jacobs responded by delivering coffee in its yellow-and-black VW vans, nicknamed ”Jacobs' b.u.mble Bees.” In 1955 Tchibo opened specialty coffee shops selling whole beans and sample cups of coffee. An avuncular ”coffee expert” helped establish the Tchibo image, while an elderly hausfrau hausfrau portrayed the ”nation's grandmother” for Jacobs. The firms advertised primarily through magazines, radio, and cinemas, since television had yet to reach many consumers in Europe. The era of ma.s.s marketing clearly had arrived, with huge firms such as Jacobs, Tchibo, and Eduscho dominating the field and smaller compet.i.tors disappearing. In 1950 there had been 2,000 West German roasters. By 1960 there were only 600. portrayed the ”nation's grandmother” for Jacobs. The firms advertised primarily through magazines, radio, and cinemas, since television had yet to reach many consumers in Europe. The era of ma.s.s marketing clearly had arrived, with huge firms such as Jacobs, Tchibo, and Eduscho dominating the field and smaller compet.i.tors disappearing. In 1950 there had been 2,000 West German roasters. By 1960 there were only 600.

In the Netherlands, Douwe Egberts expanded its coffee, tobacco, and tea business after 1952, when coffee rationing finally ended. It bought several smaller roasters, and by the end of the 1950s the Dutch firm accounted for over 50 percent of its country's coffee exports.

In Italy 3,000 roasters vied for local retail market share. Italians would drop into their favorite coffee bar several times a day, standing among friends for a few minutes while they downed their drink, then moving on. They ordered varieties of espresso: ristretto ristretto (short and dense), (short and dense), macchiato macchiato (”spotted” with a drop of milk), (”spotted” with a drop of milk), corretto corretto (with a shot of brandy or grappa), and others. Most of the blends contained a great deal of robusta, though nothing compared to France, where robusta accounted for 75 percent of the beans in each cup. (with a shot of brandy or grappa), and others. Most of the blends contained a great deal of robusta, though nothing compared to France, where robusta accounted for 75 percent of the beans in each cup.

Lavazza expanded from Turin, opening its first branch in Milan. The brand advertised with the lilting slogan ”Lavazza paradiso in tazza,” meaning ”Lavazza is paradise in a cup.” In 1956 Lavazza introduced vacuum cans, which allowed national distribution. Illycaffe, under the direction of Ernesto Illy, produced the finest-quality espres...o...b..end. Still, the Italian industry remained primarily local, with over 2,000 roasters in business by 1960.

j.a.pan Discovers Coffee Coffee first came to j.a.pan in the seventeenth century through a Dutch merchant trading at the island of Dejima, the only port opened to foreign trade. In 1888 the first kissaten kissaten (coffeehouse) opened in Tokyo, followed by many others, often frequented by artists and the literati. (coffeehouse) opened in Tokyo, followed by many others, often frequented by artists and the literati.91 A small coffee industry developed. In 1920 Bunji s.h.i.+bata founded Key Coffee in Yokohama, opening offices in cities throughout j.a.pan over the next fifteen years, then establis.h.i.+ng branches in Korea, China, and Manchuria. Other roasters sprang up after World War II. Tadao Ues.h.i.+ma, who had run a Kobe A small coffee industry developed. In 1920 Bunji s.h.i.+bata founded Key Coffee in Yokohama, opening offices in cities throughout j.a.pan over the next fifteen years, then establis.h.i.+ng branches in Korea, China, and Manchuria. Other roasters sprang up after World War II. Tadao Ues.h.i.+ma, who had run a Kobe kissaten kissaten before the war, opened a Tokyo branch and incorporated Ues.h.i.+ma Coffee Company in 1951. Altogether there were some two hundred roasters, most of which were concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka. before the war, opened a Tokyo branch and incorporated Ues.h.i.+ma Coffee Company in 1951. Altogether there were some two hundred roasters, most of which were concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka.

After the war, s.h.i.+bata moved the main Key Coffee office to Tokyo, enticed by the influx of American occupation forces, who brought with them their taste for coffee. He could not yet legally import coffee, however, and had to resort to the thriving black market. After 1950, when official coffee imports were allowed, hundreds of kissaten kissaten appeared in j.a.panese cities, many with a special appeal. In some, customers could watch newsreels. appeared in j.a.panese cities, many with a special appeal. In some, customers could watch newsreels. Chanson Chanson coffeehouses featured singers. In 1955 a six-story coffeehouse opened in Tokyo's fas.h.i.+onable Ginza district, featuring life-size animated female dolls, several bands, and a purple decor. Some coffeehouses featured singers. In 1955 a six-story coffeehouse opened in Tokyo's fas.h.i.+onable Ginza district, featuring life-size animated female dolls, several bands, and a purple decor. Some kissaten kissaten stayed open all night and offered private nooks favored by prost.i.tutes and petty criminals. stayed open all night and offered private nooks favored by prost.i.tutes and petty criminals.

The j.a.panese wanted to mimic the affluent Western lifestyle, sometimes with odd results. ”In Tokyo,” one writer observed in 1956, ”waitresses do the mambo while carrying cups of Italian espresso to tables set against a Viennese decor.” The kissaten kissaten frequently used English names: Dig was named to indicate that its owner did in fact ”dig” jazz and American slang; he later opened a second coffeehouse called Dug. frequently used English names: Dig was named to indicate that its owner did in fact ”dig” jazz and American slang; he later opened a second coffeehouse called Dug.

Googie Coffee The artsy beverage confections popular in international bohemian coffeehouses did not appeal to most American consumers. U.S. coffee shops served a regular cuppa joe, usually diluted to the tastes of the time, along with a hamburger and fries. These brash, plastic-and-chrome, neon-and-gla.s.s outlets served the car culture and possessed distinctly un-Italian names: s.h.i.+p's, Chip's, Googie's, Biff's, Bob's Big Boy, Coffee Dan's, Dunkin' Donuts,92 Herbert's, White Castle, Smorgyburger, McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box. The soaring, garishly colored roofs signaled a new style called Coffee Shop Modern, or sneeringly, Googie Architecture. Herbert's, White Castle, Smorgyburger, McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box. The soaring, garishly colored roofs signaled a new style called Coffee Shop Modern, or sneeringly, Googie Architecture.

In Denial During the late 1950s, the U.S. coffee industry entered a period of what pop psychologists would call ”denial.” Arthur Ransohoff, the chairman of the National Coffee a.s.sociation, expressed a typical att.i.tude in 1956. ”How're we doing? Not too bad-I think,” he wrote. ”Coffee was here, on this earth, long before any of the 'colas.'” Ransohoff concluded that ”good old coffee seems to be 'in there pitching' and gaining slightly if not sensationally compared to the population growth of the country.”

Coffee was was gaining, by the misleading statistics issued by the Pan American Coffee Bureau. Rather than expressing U.S. per capita in actual coffee pounds per citizen (the previous practice), the PACB now reported how many gaining, by the misleading statistics issued by the Pan American Coffee Bureau. Rather than expressing U.S. per capita in actual coffee pounds per citizen (the previous practice), the PACB now reported how many cups a day cups a day the average American the average American ten or over ten or over consumed, avoiding acknowledging that the cups consisted of weak coffee, stretched to brew sixty-four cups per pound. ”Americans are drinking more coffee than ever before,” the PACB bragged, but the truth was that real coffee consumption in the United States had peaked in 1946. In addition, the unfortunate coffee-boiling percolator now accounted for 64 percent of all household brewing. consumed, avoiding acknowledging that the cups consisted of weak coffee, stretched to brew sixty-four cups per pound. ”Americans are drinking more coffee than ever before,” the PACB bragged, but the truth was that real coffee consumption in the United States had peaked in 1946. In addition, the unfortunate coffee-boiling percolator now accounted for 64 percent of all household brewing.93 In a 1956 address, Judy Gregg of Gilbert Youth Research advised coffee men to ”focus attention on the 15-to-19-year-old group,” observing that they would increase by 45 percent in the next decade. ”The soft drink companies have been aware of these trends,” she said. ”By examining what they have done to attract young people, perhaps you will be able to draw parallels for the coffee industry.” She noted that c.o.ke appealed to teens with popular singer Eddie Fisher. ”The coffee manufacturer that decides to use the same personality technique and hires the services of one Elvis Presley could enjoy a strange success,” Gregg continued. ”Imagine Elvis sipping just one cup on TV.”

None of the coffee men rushed to hire Elvis. Even if they had, magazines such as Seventeen Seventeen wouldn't have run the ads, still considering coffee unsuitable for teens. When the Pan American Coffee Bureau finally broke through that taboo in the late 1950s, it featured an insert, ”How to Make a Good Cup of Coffee,” aimed at the future housewife, which elicited only yawns. So did the preppy, clean-cut ”Teen Mates” they used to promote coffee with doughnuts, or the roaster billboard saluting the ”student of the month” at a local college. wouldn't have run the ads, still considering coffee unsuitable for teens. When the Pan American Coffee Bureau finally broke through that taboo in the late 1950s, it featured an insert, ”How to Make a Good Cup of Coffee,” aimed at the future housewife, which elicited only yawns. So did the preppy, clean-cut ”Teen Mates” they used to promote coffee with doughnuts, or the roaster billboard saluting the ”student of the month” at a local college.

The roasters didn't seem to understand that teenagers wanted action, energy, and adventure. National Coffee a.s.sociation president John McKiernan explained the situation graphically. ”Today, the Pied Piper is . . . one giant cola bottle, and his limbs are formed of soft drink and beer cans, strung loosely so that he makes a lot of noise as he walks through the marketplace with our youth flocking after him.”

In 1959 the Pan American Coffee Bureau hired BBDO, Pepsi-Cola's advertising firm, to counter another major problem: the diluted-coffee trend. In what the BBDO men termed a ”sprightly and unconventional approach,” the ads depicted a businessman gripping a broad sword atop a rearing horse, next to a woman on a motor scooter holding a banner with the motto ”More Coffee in Our Coffee or Fight.” To join this ”crusade,” readers could send in a dime for a brewing leaflet and official members.h.i.+p certificate in the ”League of Honest Coffee Lovers.”

Predictably, the campaign failed to bring back decent coffee brewing. All it did was attract the satire of Mad Mad magazine, which ran a parody about the ”League of Frightened Coffee Growers,” an organization that offered pamphlets telling ”the whole miserable story of how the Pan-American coffee growers are losing their s.h.i.+rts.” magazine, which ran a parody about the ”League of Frightened Coffee Growers,” an organization that offered pamphlets telling ”the whole miserable story of how the Pan-American coffee growers are losing their s.h.i.+rts.”

Scared into Agreement African growers too were suffering from overproduction and falling prices. Threatened with looming surpluses, the Africans formed the Inter-African Coffee Organization and rushed to the negotiation table. Together with fifteen Latin American countries, Angola, the Ivory Coast, and Cameroon signed on to a one-year quota system in September 1959 in which each country agreed to export 10 percent less than its best year in the past decade. 94 94 Without any enforcement mechanism, however, the quota system was widely violated. Without any enforcement mechanism, however, the quota system was widely violated.