ain, supplemented by the service
of Turkish waiter boys, who peddled it among the crowds from small cups
on trays. The fair was held during the first two months of spring, in a
large open plot just inside the walls of Paris and near the Latin
Quarter. As Pascal's waiter boys circulated through the crowds on those
chilly days the fragrant odor of freshly made coffee brought many ready
sales of the steaming beverage; and soon visitors to the fair learned to
look for the "little black" cupful of cheer, or _petit noir_, a name
that still endures.

When the fair closed, Pascal opened a small coffee shop on the Quai de
l'Ecole, near the Pont Neuf; but his frequenters were of a type who
preferred the beers and wines of the day, and coffee languished. Pascal
continued, however, to send his waiter boys with their large coffee
jugs, that were heated by lamps, through the streets of Paris and from
door to door. Their cheery cry of "_cafe! cafe!_" became a welcome call
to many a Parisian, who later missed his _petit noir_ when Pascal gave
up and moved on to London, where coffee drinking was then in high favor.

[Illustration: STREET COFFEE VENDER OF PARIS--PERIOD, 1672 TO 1689--TWO
SOUS PER DISH, SUGAR INCLUDED]

Lacking favor at court, coffee's progress was slow. The French smart set
clung to its light wines and beers. In 1672, Maliban, another Armenian,
opened a coffee house in the rue Bussy, next to the Metz tennis court
near St.-Germain's abbey. He supplied tobacco also to his customers.
Later he went to Holland, leaving his servant and partner, Gregory, a
Persian, in charge. Gregory moved to the rue Mazarine, to be near the
Comedie Francaise. He was succeeded in the business by Makara, another
Persian, who later returned to Ispahan, leaving the coffee house to one
Le Gantois, of Liege.

About this period there was a cripple boy from Candia, known as le
Candiot, who began to cry "coffee!" in the streets of Paris. He carried
with him a coffee pot of generous size, a chafing-dish, cups, and all
other implements necessary to his trade. He sold his coffee from door to
door at two sous per dish, sugar included.

[Illustration: MANY OF THE EARLY PARISIAN COFFEE HOUSES FOLLOWED
PASCAL'S LEAD AND AFFECTED ARMENIAN DECORATIONS

From a Seventeenth-Century Print]

A Levantine named Joseph also sold coffee in the streets, and later had
several coffee shops of his own. Stephen, from Aleppo, next opened a
coffee house on Pont au Chan