H and H Coffee

Dedicated to the history of the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. founded 1899 in San Antonio, Texas.

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Photo feature — Spahn bakery shack, first roaster, William R. Hoffmann portrait — Express-News, 22 Jul 1935, page 7

Illustrated business-page feature from the San Antonio Express-News for Monday, 22 July 1935 (page 7) on Hoffmann-Hayman’s growth from a rear-of-bakery roaster on East Commerce to 601 Delaware Street works, with Studer Studios photos (shack, first roaster, William R. Hoffmann). Brands named include H. & H, Sam Houston, and Texas Girl; slogan “We Roast It, Others Praise It.”

Transcription

Mighty Business Oak From Tiny Roaster Grows

Above—Shack in the rear of the Spahn bakery, in East Commerce street, where H & H Coffee Co. business began. Below (right), the first roaster used by H & H; and William R. Hoffmann, founder of the business, which has grown to huge proportions. (Photos by Studer Studios.)

The history of the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Company, with plant and offices at 601 Delaware Street, is a romance of brilliant success in growth and development of the Southwest and constitutes a forceful example of the truth of the old saying that mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

The accompanying pictures furnish a graphic illustration of the humble beginning of this concern which, today, is one of the largest of its kind in the country.

William R. Hoffmann, one of the pioneers of the coffee industry in the Southwest, was the founder of the company. In 1904, Mr. Hoffmann purchased for a few dollars a small coffee roaster of limited capacity, which he installed in the rear of the old Spahn Bakery in East Commerce street. During the day, Mr. Hoffmann solicited orders, roasted the green coffee at night and delivered it by horse and buggy the next morning.

Upon the death of Mr. Hoffmann, his business was combined with another small enterprise conducted by W. E. Hayman. The new firm from then on was operated under the name of the Hoffmann-Hayman [Coffee Company].

[Column continues on scale of operations and leadership in the industry.]

The three leading brands of the company are H. & H, Sam Houston and Texas Girl coffees, which have become favorites in tens of thousands of homes all over the Southwest.

The slogan of the company is “We Roast It, Others Praise It.”

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