H and H Coffee

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

San Antonio Express-News, 25 March 1968, page 9 — large black-outlined oval ad reading 'FOLGER'S, MARYLAND CLUB, MAXWELL HOUSE, MASTER CHEF OR HANDY-ANDY PREMIUM — Coffee 59¢ ALL GRINDS 1-LB. CAN — 2-LB. CAN $1.17 — Limit 2 Lbs. Total — Add'l. 1-lb. 75c; 2-lb. $1.49'; a small bespectacled chef mascot peeks over the top-left of the oval
San Antonio Express-News, 25 March 1968, page 9 — large black-outlined oval ad reading 'FOLGER'S, MARYLAND CLUB, MAXWELL HOUSE, MASTER CHEF OR HANDY-ANDY PREMIUM — Coffee 59¢ ALL GRINDS 1-LB. CAN — 2-LB. CAN $1.17 — Limit 2 Lbs. Total — Add'l. 1-lb. 75c; 2-lb. $1.49'; a small bespectacled chef mascot peeks over the top-left of the oval
Catalog ID
HH-CLIP-1968-0003
Gallery
Newspaper

Handy-Andy “Coffee 59¢” oval display ad with Master Chef — SA Express-News, 25 March 1968

Large black-outlined oval display ad in the San Antonio Express-News of Monday, 25 March 1968 (p. 9) — a coffee-war price-cluster ad from Handy-Andy bundling Master Chef with the major national-brand competitors at the same per-can price:

  • FOLGER’S, MARYLAND CLUB, MAXWELL HOUSE, MASTER CHEF OR HANDY-ANDY PREMIUM
  • ALL GRINDS 1-LB. CAN: 59¢
  • 2-LB. CAN: $1.17
  • Limit 2 Lbs. Total
  • Add’l 1-lb. 75c; 2-lb. $1.49

A small bespectacled chef mascot peeks over the top-left of the oval — the recurring monocled-chef-character used by Master Chef Food Products since the late-1966 color-keyed-cans refresh (cf. HH-CLIP-1966-0001, HH-CLIP-1966-0002).

Significance:

  • Master Chef is explicitly named in Handy-Andy’s “Premium” tier alongside Folger’s, Maryland Club, and Maxwell House. The grocer’s own Handy-Andy Premium house brand is at the same sale price — Handy-Andy is asserting parity between its private-label premium and the four national/regional name brands. Useful private-label-strategy datapoint for San Antonio retail history.
  • Sale-price 59¢/lb in March 1968 — the same temporary 59¢ sale price as the 15 June 1967 SA Light grocer-banner cluster. Suggests 59¢ was the dominant coffee-war floor for 1-lb cans across multiple South Texas grocery chains from mid-1967 through early 1968.
  • Add’l-quantity price 75c/lb — useful as the actual “non-promotional” shelf price for the 1-lb can in early 1968, the same as the H.E.B. shelf price 30 months earlier in September 1965 (HH-CLIP-1965-0002). Stable shelf price across 1965-1968 despite frequent coupon/sale activity.