Oriental Cafe and Bar — “Serving H&H Coffee” Storefront Sign, San Antonio

A black-and-white street photograph — date and photographer not yet confirmed — showing a San Antonio sidewalk lined with storefront signage for the Oriental Cafe and Bar. The cafe’s boards read “ORIENTAL CAFE and BAR — SERVING H & H COFFEE” and, immediately to its right, a separate “H & H COFFEE” sign; a “PEARL BEER” board advertising the same cafe hangs to the left. In the foreground, a weathered peddler in a felt hat leans against the front fender of a late-1920s Ford sedan parked at the curb, an armful of tooled leather belts and harness straps draped over one arm. A second figure stands in the darkened cafe doorway at far right, and a vertical “HOY” marquee is just visible on a neighboring storefront.

This is the first in-situ documentation in the reference gallery of H and H Coffee appearing on a third-party business’s marquee rather than on the brand’s own tins, bags, or delivery trucks — a rare piece of customer-side evidence of how the coffee was advertised at point of sale. The visual style — sharp documentary tonal range, Ford Model A-era vehicle, hand-lettered cafe signage — is consistent with the late-1930s Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information series Russell Lee and others shot in Texas, but the image source has not yet been traced. The post will be updated with a proper credit line and capture date once the archive record is confirmed.