H and H Coffee

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

Two documented paper cup programs: a small cream-and-red H and H Blend sampler cup used for in-store demonstrations across the retail era, and a four-ounce Master Chef Handi-Handle cup produced by Sutherland Paper Co. for counter sampling at hotel and restaurant accounts. All five artifacts are collection items. A third cup type — the ceramic cup-and-saucer packed inside Border Brand pails as a premium — is documented by the pail cartouche text but has no surviving specimen.

Quick ID:

  • H and H Blend sampler cup — small cream waxed-paper cup; “Ask Your Grocer for H and H Coffee” in red block letters; large H and H monogram; two fine rules; in-store demonstration use; c.1930s
  • Master Chef Handi-Handle cup (4 oz) — deep red panel, yellow scalloped bands, cream H AND H and Master Chef lettering, cup-and-steam vignette; fold-out Handi-Handle tabs on back; rim print: “4oz Handi-Handle Cup — Mfd. by Sutherland Paper Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. & Santa Clara, Calif.”; tan Sutherland stock; c.1940s–c.1960s
  • Ceramic cup-and-saucer (Border Brand premium) — no specimen known; exists only as cartouche text on the Border Brand pail; see HH-ITEM-0007

H and H Blend sampler cup

A small cream waxed-paper cup (HH-COLL-0000-0042) printed in red with “Ask Your Grocer for H and H Coffee” in block capitals flanked by fine rules and the large H and H monogram. Photographed in the collection alongside H and H Blend, Sam Houston, and other house tins. The 1930-01-01 filename is a placeholder; a closer production or campaign date is not yet documented. The cup is described in the collection as companion ephemera to the H and H promotional napkin.

This format connects directly to the 1923 in-store demonstration program: the 26 August 1923 San Antonio Light names Clara H. Allred and Irene Brown as “special demonstrators” conducting in-store tastings. A small branded sampler cup of this type would have been the delivery vehicle for those tastings. The same sampler cup type appears in the group photograph at HH-REF-0000-0020 alongside the Texas Centennial seed packet and H and H tins; that photograph is cross-referenced in H and H Promotional Premium (HH-ITEM-0007).

Cup fabricator undocumented.

Master Chef Handi-Handle cup (4 oz)

A four-ounce paper sample cup (HH-COLL-2017-0002/0009/0010) acquired February 2017 from a Minden, Nevada eBay lot of mixed grocery promotional items. Manufacturer directly documented by rim print inside the base: “4oz Handi-Handle Cup — Mfd. by Sutherland Paper Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. & Santa Clara, Calif. U.S.A.” The Handi-Handle design adds fold-out handle tabs on the back panel, a Sutherland Paper Co. proprietary form.

The cup carries the full Master Chef trade dress: deep red ground, yellow scalloped bands at top and bottom, cream H AND H and Master Chef lettering, and a small cup-and-steam vignette. The design reads as a counter-sampling format for the hotel and restaurant channel — the same trade that received Master Chef bulk coffee service.

HH-COLL-2017-0011 is a group shot from the same lot showing all the sample cups acquired together: two Master Chef cups (the 4oz Handi-Handle plus a larger aging example), two Folgers NOS cups, a Hills Bros NOS cup, an Old Judge 100th-anniversary cup, an NOS Old Judge cup, and a Hills Bros coffee scoop. Only the smaller 4oz Master Chef cup has individual artifact entries; the larger Master Chef cup is visible in the group shot but does not have its own entry.

Ceramic cup-and-saucer (Border Brand premium — no specimen)

The Border Brand premium pail cartouche explicitly states “THIS BUCKET CONTAINS CUP & SAUCER PREMIUM” — the pail was retail packaging for Border Brand coffee, and inside sat a ceramic cup-and-saucer set. No surviving cup-and-saucer example from this program is known in any documented collection. This premium-channel cup type belongs to the Border Brand pail program (see H and H Promotional Premium, HH-ITEM-0007) rather than to the paper sampling cup program documented here.

Manufacturer

Master Chef Handi-Handle cup: Sutherland Paper Co., Kalamazoo, Michigan and Santa Clara, California — directly documented by rim print on HH-COLL-2017-0002. Sutherland Paper Co. was a major American manufacturer of paper cups and food-service paper goods. The Handi-Handle was a proprietary Sutherland cup form with integrated fold-out handle tabs. No company file for Sutherland Paper Co. exists in the KB.

H and H Blend sampler cup: Fabricator undocumented. No print credit or manufacturer mark has been identified on HH-COLL-0000-0042.

Artifacts

In the collection

  • HH-COLL-0000-0042 — H and H Coffee paper sample cup — cream waxed paper, red “Ask Your Grocer for H and H Coffee” block text and H&H monogram; in-store demonstrator format; c.1930s
  • HH-COLL-2017-0002 — Master Chef 4oz Handi-Handle paper sample cup, 3/4 profile (primary entry; full acquisition narrative)
  • HH-COLL-2017-0009 — Master Chef cup, front view showing red/yellow/cream trade dress
  • HH-COLL-2017-0010 — Master Chef cup, back view showing Handi-Handle fold-out tabs and instructions
  • HH-COLL-2017-0011 — Group shot: full 2017 Minden lot — two Master Chef cups, Folgers, Hills Bros, Old Judge NOS cups, Hills Bros scoop

Reference

None.

Wanted

No additional paper cup types are documented as wanted. Ceramic cup-and-saucer sets from the Border Brand pail premium would be a priority acquisition if located — see HH-ITEM-0007.

Open questions

  • Is the larger Master Chef paper sample cup visible in HH-COLL-2017-0011 (the group shot) the same object as HH-COLL-2017-0002, or is it a separate larger format cup from the same lot that has no individual artifact entry?
  • What fabricator made the H and H Blend sampler cup (HH-COLL-0000-0042)? Sutherland Paper Co. is documented for the Master Chef cup; whether they also produced the Blend cup is unknown.
  • HH-COLL-0000-0042 uses nomenclature_path “Distribution & Transportation Objects > Containers > cup” while HH-COLL-2017-0002/0009/0010/0011 use “Tools & Equipment for Materials > Food Service Equipment > cup.” The two paths reflect different classification frameworks; which is authoritative for this item type?
  • Can the H and H Blend sampler cup be dated more precisely than “c.1930s”? The filename placeholder (1930-01-01) is not a confirmed date.
  • Are ceramic cup-and-saucer sets from the Border Brand pail premium documented anywhere beyond the pail cartouche text?

See also