PLEASE HELP!! Student seeks history lesson in French Presses

[pressingQuestion]

Hello-
I'm a design student in Washington State, and have a project which entails choosing a household item and researching it's history/designer/country of origin.....etc.

I chose my favorite appliance, my french press. If anyone has any relevant info on this topic please fill me in. This has not been an easy research topic.

Tommy Townsend

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[wulf]

That is going to be an interesting bit of research! Lots of places to buy French Presses or to learn how to use them but where can you find authoritative information on the history of them?

My earliest exposure to the concept (as far as I can recall) was about 15 years ago and I first knew of them as 'cafetieres'. However, I suspect it goes a lot further back than that! One possible avenue would be to look at early illustrations of coffee shops and see if you can deduce anything from the images. Also, don't forget to pay attention to anything your teacher has given as a recommended reference work on domestic designs.

Wulf