R.I.P. MR. COFFEE

Vincent Marotta Sr., the man who invented the Mr. Coffee machine, has died at the age of 91. Prior to Mr. Coffee, Americans made coffee at home with a percolator. Marotta and his business partner, Samuel Glazer, hired two engineers to design the machine: Hot water would be delivered into a filter-lined basket filled with coffee grounds, which then slowly drips into a carafe. The carafe sat on a hot plate so the coffee wouldn’t get cold. Mr. Coffee became one of the first automatic drip brewers sold for the consumer market when it was introduced in 1972. Then, Marotta persuaded baseball legend Joe DiMaggio to become the Mr. Coffee spokesman the following year, and sales took off. Mr. Coffee eventually employed more than 1,000 workers who created 42,000 machines per day.
* With the help of eight cups of coffee a day.
* If you think this was a genius idea, look at Keurig. You can pay up to $300 for a machine and then you’re locked into buying the K-cups for life.
* Just think: Prior to this, the world had never run out of filters at 6 a.m. before.
* Anybody remember when Joe DiMaggio got into a fistfight with Mrs. Olsen over Mr. Coffee versus Folger’s Instant?
* I got a coffee machine a few years ago and so far – compared to going to Starbucks – I’ve saved $7,000.
* In fact, there’s only one time I still go to Starbucks. You guessed it: When I run out of filters.
* Of course, good coffee beans are so expensive now I just grind them up and snort it.
* In case you’re a little groggy out there, some of these are jokes. Do not try that at home.