Here are pages 6 and 7 of the vintage booklet The Enterprising Housekeeper from the sixth edition (1906). There is also a scan of pages 8 and 9 of antique coffee grinding and pulverizing mills at the bottom of this page. If you’d like to follow along and browse through more pages of the book, I’m filing them in the Enterprising Housekeeper Category.

IMPORTANT

A Coffee Mill is a household necessity if one wishes good coffee. Ground coffee quickly loses its strength, and the amount required at any one time should be ground just before using. There is another reason for home grinding, too often overlooked by the consumer. You may purchase the best Java and Mocha, but the purchaser just before you selected an inferior grade of Rio; his coffee was coarsely ground, yours is to be finer. The result appears in the next morning’s cup of coffee, when the flavor of the rank Rio, grains of which have gone through the grinder with your better grade, is stronger than that of the other mixture.

In selecting a Coffee Mill it is better to take one that stands on a shelf or table, as Nos. 1 or 2, than those screwed upon the wall. The former are more apt to be cleaned often, require less time to operate, and save all the coffee and its strength. The Coffee Mill should not be used for grinding spices, unless these flavors are desired in the coffee.

The fineness of the grinding is regulated by the thumb-screw at the end of the shaft. Put the measured coffee in the hopper, see that the receiving drawer or receptacle is clean, and turn the crank or wheel to the right. If grinding for drip coffee, tighten the thumb-screw so that the coffee is pulverized; if for boiled coffee, loosen the screw accordingly.

The grinders are strong and do their work evenly. If after continued use, their working power be impaired a new set can be put in at a small cost, all the grinders being interchangeable, as well as all the other parts of any of the mills.

Do not wash the mill, but keep it clean, wiping the hopper and drawer often; wheels and working parts when necessary.