Atomic 101 - The Frederick Nakos primer on the World's most beloved coffee maker.

Our readers have asked for the history of The Atomic Coffee. It is a big project, so let's take a look. I have pictures to back up my research.

The history of the Atomic coffee maker is clouded in mystery, murder, industrial espionage and the occasional incestuous relationship.

Conjecture and deductions, from examination of the fabrication and the economic main body and of the components, have permitted me to chronologically order the different models.

The first model bears a Stella Wien patent statement. This is found on the knob. Bakelite is used for this item as for all subsequent knobs.

It states: Stella Espresso, Wien Austria patent.

On top of the flat head, a label shows the word Atomic, in a very outlined shape of the atomic mushroom cloud.

A contradiction is found here. Under the word Atomic, the word espresso.
So we have: Atomic Espresso Stella Wien patent.
The size of the threads are much smaller than all other models. This second size would remain to the end of production and would include the stand-offish Sasoon model. It is also used the same size thread used for the boiler plug.

The Stella knob has no undercut - perhaps to dissipate the heat faster and thus prevent it from splitting. The undercut feature is found later, on the second of the flat top models and on the first of the round tops.

The safety valve is a complicated matter on the Stella and a small hole on top of the knob lets us detect its presence.
This knob is screwed in at a slant. It is a small user friendly design that facilitates filling up with the jug provided. This slant vanished in the next model. The fill up hole is perpendicular to the neck.

The Stella has no boiler plug and neither does the subsequent model bearing, for the first time, the name Robbiati.

Don't be fooled.

The sand core (used in aluminum casting) had to come out from somewhere and if you hold the Atomic at a 32 degrees angle, you will notice a different aluminum color where the plug should be!

Yes! Eureka. The hole has been welded up!

Any welder will tell you how hard it is to weld aluminum.

The temperature has to be just right.

Few people realise this but aluminum is the same color, frigid cold or in liquid molten state. Welding it like this....You know the difference between first and second place in an Olympic 100 meter dash? That is what welding aluminum is like.

Imagine having to use slightly different compounds.

This is hard work today. Imagine it in the late forties!

Atomic lovers, you are many! I haven't discussed the top, the holder or it's handle or anything else. Time is unfortunately not a free flowing commodity in our busy lifestyle. There are volumes to be said about the Atomic and I will continue where I left off if the demand is there.

Keep in mind, readers, that from the very beginning up to the end of production, every single square millimeter, of the Atomic, has been modified, yet it remained the same

It was always a difficult, costly and hand produced item. It succumbed to excessive demand and the impossibility of economic manufacture. I do believe that the current prices obtained for the Atomics are very low when you consider the sand casting, the machining, the polishing involved. Every single one, battered, dirty, with missing parts...should be rescued. They are works of art.