Coffee Percolators
Written on Apr 22, 2026
The Pyrex coffee percolators started becoming popular in the 1930s and remained the kind people preferred until automatic drip coffee makers became more popular, sometime after the mid-1970s.
The picture shows a coffee percolator sold by Walmart in the United States, listed as a Pyrex coffee maker. I have no idea if that's the actual brand name because it isn't in the description. If functions just like the old ones I grew up with.
The Pyrex Coffee Percolator
"Pyrex" is a word invented by Corning Incorporated in 1915. Although they sold (or licensed) the consumer products division in 1998, "Corning Incorporated" still appears at the Pyrex web portal. They no longer sell coffee makers of any kind.
Pyrex is a brand name that was synonymous with glass. It didn't matter what type of glass they used, although they originally used borosilicate glass. I think they made the glassware tempered and heat-resistant. I never saw any Pyrex coffee percolators crack.
Percolator Operation
All the coffee percolators that I've actually seen work the same way. I understand there's another kind that operates a little differently, but I've never seen it. With the original Pyrex coffee percolator, they placed coffee grounds in a basket at the top of a long cylindrical tube and pedestal.
I never saw any baskets made from anything other than aluminum. The tube and pedestal were made of glass. The only other metal part was the band that went around the pot. I don't remember if the band served to secure the handle or not.
After the coffee finished brewing, usually when it was dark brown, they lowered the heat just enough to keep the coffee warm. I can remember many times when the coffee sat long enough to be burnt, and it tasted nasty at that point.
When the liquid boiled, I could see it hitting the inside knob of the lid. I think they designed the lid that way for exactly that reason. During times of little money, my mother and her guests would re-use the coffee grounds.
It took longer for the coffee to brew the second time, and it never got as dark as the first time. A third time was out of the question. I don't think the coffee grounds sold today can be re-used at all, but I could be wrong. I've never had the desire to buy a percolator just to find out.
Other Versions
A cursory image search will show vintage coffee percolators of all types still in existence. Only a few will be similar to what my mother used. There were others that I remember, like the metal ones we used during camping trips. They operated in much the same way.
Some of the images I've found on Google are misleading. Some younger people might be fooled when they see an image of a decanter instead of a percolator. The decanters are only used to keep coffee hot for serving, and the outer plastic looks like metal.
Image from Walmart.com