Chris M. Jasso
Chris M. Jasso — Hoffmann-Hayman Superintendent, Packing Department as profiled in the 26 August 1923 San Antonio Light employee series (page 62), the same page as the “Unusual Ways of Making Coffee” recipes spread. The middle initial M. is confirmed by the April 1959 Express-News La Villita-contest credit (HH-CLIP-1959-0007) and by the August 1971 Gus P. Menger pallbearer roster (HH-CLIP-1971-0002) — the 1923 Light and family-letter references that use the shorter “Chris Jasso” form are the same individual.
The article reads: “‘Chris’ renders an unparalleled service in the packing and preparing of H and H products for shipment to local and territorial grocers.”
The “local and territorial grocers” phrasing confirms H&H’s distribution reached beyond San Antonio to a broader South Texas territory, with the packing department serving both city and out-of-town accounts by 1923.
Extended tenure (family papers)
Nancy Draves (2015) adds from Gustav P. Menger’s papers:
- Country Shipping Clerk by 1936
- Association with the Menger family from H&H’s earliest coffee days — Jasso drew a comic-book-style portrait of Nancy Draves’s grandmother dated 1926
- Artist — family caricatures; second-place entry in a 1950s San Antonio downtown-redevelopment design contest
- Storyteller — wrote tales from his Canary-Islander mother-in-law’s oral history
- Residence: 201 Hill Street, San Antonio 78212 (2015 directory still listed a Chris Jasso at that address — likely descendants)
- Stayed in touch with G. P. Menger after the 1962 Continental sale, visiting “the plant” and “the old gang”
Post-Continental letters (1970–1971)
Paraphrased by Nancy Draves from letters Jasso wrote to G. P. Menger:
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1970 | Still visiting 601 Delaware; saw new Continental-era H&H coffee cans in grocery stores — gold, tall, white plastic lid; stock label “not very pretty” (white oval, red printing); priced 10¢ above national brands; two Spanish words misspelled on bilingual contents panel |
| 8 Jul 1971 | Visiting plant to see “Mother, Sonny and the boys”; reported Ernesto Gonzales (Monterrey) bought four Jabez Burns Jubilee roasters from Continental; Gonzales flew Jasso and retired roaster Lupe Valdez to Monterrey to commission them — 500 lb test roast; TEMPO-VANE thermostat trouble on one machine; uniform roast cutoff at 420°F |
Jasso’s 1971 letter included a drawing of the four Jubilee roasters — Nancy Draves compared the layout to a Burns-equipped factory photo in Roast Magazine (Burlington, Iowa).
Open questions
- Full vitals, San Antonio directory citations beyond 1936
- Exact retirement date
- Whether Jasso’s roaster-drawing or the 1970–71 letters survive in Nancy Draves’s holdings
- Son/grandson Chris Jasso line at 201 Hill Street
See also
People
- Ernesto Gonzales
- Lupe Valdez — roaster colleague on Monterrey commissioning trip
- Nancy Draves
Places
- 331 Burnett Street — the 1923-era plant
- 601 Delaware Street Plant
Events
- 1971 — Burns Jubilee roasters sold to Monterrey
Companies
- Continental Coffee Company
- Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Company
- Jabez Burns & Sons