H and H Coffee

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

The cylindrical pail with wire bail handle was Hoffmann-Hayman’s earlier bulk retail format — used for secondary house brands (Texas Girl, Sam Houston, Anita Brand) in 3 lb and 4 lb sizes before the keywind tin became the dominant retail unit from the 1930s onward. Two substrate types are documented: lithographed tin with a press-fit lid, and galvanized zinc with a paper label and open top. The Border Brand cup-and-saucer premium pails, a closely related form that ran through the 1950s, are covered separately in H and H Promotional Premium (HH-ITEM-0007).

Quick ID:

  • Texas Girl 4 lb litho tin pail — yellow-and-blue litho; “WE ROAST IT — OTHERS PRAISE IT” flanking the H and H diamond at top; Texas Girl medallion portrait over bluebonnet sprigs; “FOUR POUNDS / NET WEIGHT”; wire bail attached; post-1933 (Texas Girl brand launch)
  • Sam Houston 4 lb litho/gold-body pail — full paper label; cream “Sam Houston” script; octagonal Sam Houston portrait; “FOUR POUNDS / NET WEIGHT”; “100% PURE”; “We Roast It / Others Praise It”; “Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. San Antonio, Texas” footer; Witte Museum example carries handwritten price “1.05”
  • Sam Houston galvanized zinc open-top pail — galvanized zinc body; red paper label; cream “Sam Houston” script; oval Sam Houston portrait; open top (no lid); wire bail; Mac Johanson collection — distinct substrate from the litho tin examples
  • Anita Brand 3 lb Peaberry Blend pail — red upper / black lower litho; “ANITA / BRAND” in large block letters; western woman in pale hat with star; “STAR OF THE RANCH”; “PEABERRY BLEND / COFFEE”; “THREE POUNDS NET”; Witte Museum

Pail types

Texas Girl 4 lb litho tin pail (HH-COLL-2017-0019). The in-collection example. Cylindrical tin in a yellow-and-blue litho livery, wire bail handle still attached — a detail described as uncommon on surviving examples of this size. The label reads top to bottom: “WE ROAST IT — OTHERS PRAISE IT” motto flanking the H and H diamond; “TEXAS GIRL” brand name; the central medallion with the Texas Girl’s stylized portrait over bluebonnet sprigs; “COFFEE” in outlined capitals; “FOUR POUNDS / NET WEIGHT” at the base rail. The Texas Girl brand launched in 1933, giving a terminus post quem for this label. The yellow-and-blue palette matches no other documented Texas Girl packaging, which primarily uses red and blue or red and cream.

Sam Houston 4 lb pail (HH-REF-2019-0010, Witte Museum). Full paper label on a gold-toned body; cream “Sam Houston” script; octagonal portrait of Sam Houston; “FOUR POUNDS / NET WEIGHT,” “100% PURE,” “We Roast It / Others Praise It” flanking “COFFEE,” footer “Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. San Antonio, Texas.” A handwritten price tag “1.05” on the label places this in retail use. Photographed at the Witte Museum, 15 October 2019; not in the project collection.

Sam Houston galvanized zinc open-top pail (HH-REF-0000-0011, Mac Johanson collection). A distinct substrate variant: open-top galvanized zinc body with a red paper label wrapped around the exterior and a wire bail handle. The label carries the cream “Sam Houston” script, an oval Sam Houston portrait, and “COFFEE” in block letters. No size is stated in the documentation. The open-top zinc form predates or runs parallel to the press-fit-lid litho tin pails and suggests an earlier production window or a different use context (scooping from an open pail rather than dispensing from a sealed one).

Anita Brand 3 lb Peaberry Blend pail (HH-REF-2019-0009, Witte Museum). Red upper / black lower litho on a cylindrical tin pail with wire bail. “ANITA / BRAND” in large block letters over a western portrait of a woman in a pale hat with a small star; “STAR OF THE RANCH”; “PEABERRY BLEND”; “COFFEE”; “THREE POUNDS NET.” Photographed at the Witte Museum, 15 October 2019; not in the project collection. The “Star of the Ranch” tagline and western imagery distinguish this from other documented Anita Brand material and suggest a distinct market-positioning sub-line for the peaberry product.

Border Brand premium pails (cross-reference)

The Border Brand cup-and-saucer premium pails — cylindrical 3 lb and 4 lb tins in a red-white-blue vertical-striped livery, with a “THIS BUCKET CONTAINS CUP & SAUCER PREMIUM” cartouche — are closely related in form but assigned to the premium item file because their primary function was as a premium delivery vehicle. Two Witte Museum examples (HH-REF-2019-0004 and HH-REF-2019-0008) and an Alamy stock photo (HH-REF-2023-0003) document them. See H and H Promotional Premium (HH-ITEM-0007).

Sizes

3 lb and 4 lb sizes are documented. Both appear in litho tin form; the galvanized zinc pail has no confirmed size. No 1 lb or 2 lb H&H pails have been documented — the smaller sizes were served by keywind tins once that format became dominant in the 1930s.

Manufacturer

No manufacturer mark has been documented on any H&H pail in the collection or in the Witte Museum reference photographs. The New Orleans Can Company is listed as a 1923 H&H cooperative-ad partner for “metal lithography for tins/buckets/pails/signs” and is the most likely candidate for H&H pail production, but no bottom-panel marking on a pail has confirmed this attribution. No company file for New Orleans Can Company exists in the KB beyond the index entry.

Artifacts

In the collection

  • HH-COLL-2017-0019 — Texas Girl Coffee 4 lb wire-bail litho tin pail, yellow-and-blue livery; medallion portrait and bluebonnets; bail handle intact; post-1933

Reference

  • HH-REF-0000-0011 — Sam Houston Coffee galvanized zinc open-top pail, wire bail; red paper label; oval Sam Houston portrait (Mac Johanson collection)
  • HH-REF-2019-0009 — Anita Brand Peaberry Blend 3 lb wire-bail litho tin pail, red/black; “Star of the Ranch” tagline; western woman portrait (Witte Museum, Oct 2019)
  • HH-REF-2019-0010 — Sam Houston 4 lb wire-bail pail, full paper label; octagonal portrait; handwritten price “1.05”; “Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. San Antonio, Texas” footer (Witte Museum, Oct 2019)

Wanted

No specific pail is on the wanted list. A Sam Houston pail in the project collection (matching either the zinc or litho tin form) would complement the Texas Girl in-collection example. An Anita Brand “Star of the Ranch” pail would be a notable acquisition given the unique tagline.

Open questions

  • Is the New Orleans Can Company the manufacturer of any documented H&H pail? The 1923 cooperative-ad credit lists them for “tins/buckets/pails/signs” but no bottom-panel confirmation on a pail has been found.
  • Does the galvanized zinc open-top Sam Houston pail (HH-REF-0000-0011) predate the litho tin pails, or were both substrate types in production simultaneously for different market segments or sizes?
  • What size is the Mac Johanson Sam Houston zinc pail (HH-REF-0000-0011)? No weight is stated.
  • Is the “Star of the Ranch” tagline on the Anita Brand pail documented elsewhere — in advertising, trade directories, or other specimens? It does not appear on other documented Anita Brand items.
  • What accounts for the yellow-and-blue Texas Girl pail livery? Other documented Texas Girl packaging uses red-dominant palettes; no other yellow-and-blue Texas Girl item is known.
  • Were H&H pails produced in sizes other than 3 lb and 4 lb? No 1 lb or 2 lb pail has been documented.

See also