During the first decade of 1900, various attempts were made in Italy at producing so-called espresso coffee which might justly be considered the ancestors of the machines currently produced. They were hot water and steam generators with vertical boilers of a considerable size which literally lorded it over the counters of the coffee shops.

The manufacturers of these machines, as well as being skilled craftsmen, were true pioneers in the sense that they found themselves having to tackle and overcome numerous difficulties: Giuseppe Bambi was part of this small group of pioneers who, thanks to his strong personality and wish to create something of his own, managed to open a small workshop and set up his own business.

After producing some coffee machines called "Fiorenza" for one of his clients, he then began, with his brother Bruno, to build coffee machines in his own right.

It was 1927 when the Officina Fratelli Bambi was founded. They designed the machines entirely, made them piece by piece, assembled and then sold them, all at a time when every sale was a real conquest.

That's why Giuseppe Bambi adopted the symbol of the "Marzocco" for his company, a seated lion with the crest of the Florentine Lily, the synonym of victory and conquest, and called his company La Marzocco.

With the arrival of fascism and the consequent winds of change reflected in decorative styles too, La Marzocco, while continuing to produce machines with a vertical boiler, began to design a more linear and essential chassis.

The number of cups of coffee which people drank at coffee shops was growing slowly but constantly so that the need arose to reduce the dimensions and improve the output of the coffee machines.

On 25th February, 1939 Giuseppe Bambi registered the Patent for a project for the first espresso coffee machine with a horizontal boiler.

This new arrangement meant all the brew groups could be arranged in a line, making it possible to fit in a larger number and making it easier and faster to operate them.

The events of war halted the production of coffee machines and when the war was over things had to begin again from scratch given the gloomy economic situation and the difficulty of obtaining the machinery and raw materials needed.

However, such was the ingrained enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit that on 4th December, 1945 a new patent was registered which was extended and completed on 31st October, 1949.

This Patent, which enabled the resumption of business, was for a semiautomatic mechanism which simplified the movements and operations of the barista, as well as releasing the pressure from the filter holder.

The 50s were characterised by water pressure machines where the coffee was no longer infused by filtering but by hot water pressed through it mechanically at high pressure.

So a spring was used to act on a piston that pressed the water through the coffee at a pressure of approximately 10 atmospheres.

This changed the traditional system of percolation of coffee, as well as the taste. What was to be called coffee crema from that time on had been invented.

Later, to reduce the physical effort required by the person operating the machine, an electrically operated geared motor was added to raise the piston.

In 1961 the new headquarters of the company were built on a hill outside Florence. During the tragic flood which swept Florence in 1966, La Marzocco, although not directly hit found itself having to face many difficulties.

At that time half of its work was in the capital city of Tuscany and the surrounding area and while the clients who resided in the flooded areas were able to postpone payment of their bills, La Marzocco had to continue to honour its payments without receiving such income.

Thanks to patient and constant work these difficulties too were overcome and in 1970 La Marzocco began to produce the new GS Series "continuous brewing type machine after depositing the relative Patent on 1st December of that same year.

This was the first professional machine in the world made with two boilers of which one was for the production of hot water and steam while the other was to produce hot water exclusively for brewing coffee, totally independent of each other. This solution which still characterises all the La Marzocco machines today means that a large quantity of steam is readily available at the desired temperature without interfering in any way with the temperature of the water destined for coffee production, thus enabling a more precise control of the temperature using a highly sensitive thermostatic device, a result which is not yet apparent on traditional single-boiler machines.

The boilers and the group chambers, that are completely filled with water, during heating produce a spontaneous circulation of the water inside the groups keeping the temperature constant, a key factor in making top quality coffee.

The introduction of the GS onto the market was immediately a great success, so much so that over time its fame grew to the point that it became a sort of legend. The GS series was followed by various variations to the series, the GS-2 and the LINEA which were joined in 1997, on occasion of the 70th anniversary of the production of the first La Marzocco espresso coffee machine, by the FB/70 which, given its unique design, is still widely appreciated in the most avant-garde coffee shops the world over.