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Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box
Object/Artifact
West German Alfi DUR-model vacuum flask (c. late 1950s–mid 1960s) with brown leather carrying strap, retained in its original trilingual (German/French/Spanish) export box. A cream-coloured cylindrical vacuum flask by Alfi, model "DUR," with a ribbed ivory plastic screw cap, a polished aluminum threaded collar, an inner white plastic ring sealing against a honeycomb-textured silver/aluminum inner stopper, and small brass loop clips mounted on either side of the body for the carrying strap. The original brown leather strap, with a metal rivet/buckle, completes the carrier. The body bears a circular paper or printed label with the Alfi script logo in a black square at center, the word "DUR" below in black, the curving legend "WIDERSTANDSFÄHIGER HARTGLASEINSATZ" (German: "resistant hard glass insert") around the top of the label, and "MADE IN WEST GERMANY" along the bottom. The flask body is now heavily stained/discoloured from age and humidity exposure. The original tall rectangular cardboard box, printed in dark brown ink on tan kraft board, carries silhouette illustrations of the Alfi product range (a handled coffee carafe and stacked rectangular flasks/canisters), the Alfi script logo in a dark rectangle, and multilingual product-category and slogan text in three languages (see Markings).
Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box
Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box - Image 2
Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box - Image 3
Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box - Image 4
Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box - Image 5
Alfi "DUR" Vacuum Flask with Leather Strap and Original Box - Image 6
2025.1.5
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Alfi GmbH Isoliergefäße
circa 1960
Wertheim
Baden-Württemberg
F.R.G.
Central Europe
Europe
- Flask body: appears to be coated metal (likely lacquered tinplate or aluminum) — magnet test would distinguish; cream-coloured finish - Outer screw cap: ribbed ivory/cream thermoset or rigid thermoplastic - Collar: polished aluminum, threaded - Inner ring: white plastic with rubber gasket - Inner stopper: honeycomb-embossed silver/aluminum (likely insulating cap) - Carry clips: brass - Strap: brown vegetable-tanned leather with brass or steel rivet/buckle - Insulating element (not visible but per label): "Hartglaseinsatz" — vacuum-insulated double-walled hard glass insert - Box: printed kraft cardboard Industrial vacuum-flask manufacture (hard-glass insert inside a metal-and-plastic housing); molded plastic cap; leather strap with metal hardware; offset/letterpress printing on the kraft cardboard box
Fair
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
owner
Alfi GmbH Isoliergefäße
producer
Wertheim
Baden-Württemberg
F.R.G.
Central Europe
Europe
production
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
purchase
Alfi was founded in 1914 by Carl Zitzmann in the Fischbach area (Thuringia, in what later became East Germany), originally as an aluminum-goods factory; in 1914 it produced the world's first series-manufactured glass-insert vacuum-insulated container — a foundational moment in vacuum-flask history. After WWII the original factory was dismantled by Soviet occupation forces, and the Zitzmann family was expropriated when their plant was converted into a state-owned enterprise (Volkseigener Betrieb) in East Germany. Carl and Sophie Zitzmann relocated to Wertheim in West Germany, where Alfi was re-established. By 1960 Alfi was exporting to 62 countries, which is the moment in the company's history that best matches the multilingual export packaging visible on this box. Alfi joined the WMF (Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik) group, and in November 2014 was sold to Thermos (Taiyo Nippon Sanso); it operates today as alfi GmbH out of Wertheim.
"DUR" almost certainly refers to "duro" / "durable" / "hart" — the marketing emphasis is on the Hartglaseinsatz (hard glass insert), an Alfi feature that distinguished its flasks from competitors with more fragile thin-glass inserts. Mid-century Alfi catalogs frequently emphasized "widerstandsfähig" (resistant) hard-glass technology. The DUR line was produced in multiple capacities; common sizes were 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 liters.