Master Chef Coffee Plans ‘Appreciation Certificate’ — Victoria Advocate, 31 August 1961
An Advocate News Service piece datelined San Antonio, picked up by the Victoria Advocate on the same day the Spanish-language El Heraldo de Brownsville ran the Master Chef appreciation-certificate ad in Spanish. The article reports Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. halting its vacuum-can line to insert “appreciation certificates” — two in each two-pound can, one in each one-pound can — redeemable for the trading stamps of the customer’s choice. The photo caption identifies three Menger principals by office at this exact date: Albert G. Menger (president), R. W. Menger (executive vice-president and director of advertising-merchandising), and Gus P. Menger (chairman of the Board), with Gus P. shown placing the first certificate into a 2lb can on the line.
The article supplies several useful corroborating facts: that the company was “fifty-seven year old” in August 1961 (giving a 1904 origin point), that Hoffmann-Hayman was “Texas’ largest independent coffee roasting concern” with a brand lineup of Master Chef, H & H, Texas Girl, Javo, and Anita plus “many private hotel and club brands,” and that in 1959 Menger had received the Southern Coffee Roasters Association’s “Dean of Southern Coffee Roasters” honor — “one of only five active roasters in the United States to receive this highly coveted recognition” — after forty-five years of association membership.
Transcription
CUSTOMER BONUS INAUGURATED — Albert G. Menger (left), president, and R. W. Menger (center), executive vice-president and director of advertising-merchandising, look on as Gus P. Menger, chairman of the Board of Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co., adds first “appreciation certificates” to Master Chef Coffee two pound can. The Certificates, two in the two pound vacuum can and one in the one pound size, are redeemable for any trading stamps the customer prefers.
Master Chef Coffee Plans ‘Appreciation Certificate’
Advocate News Service
SAN ANTONIO—The automatic vacuum can production line of Master Chef Coffee has come to a brief but significant halt to introduce a “first” to coffee lovers everywhere.
Shortly after noon Wednesday, Gus P. Menger, chairman of the Board of Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co., stopped the vacuum can packing process to add the first “appreciation certificate” to Master Chef Coffee. The certificates, available in all Master Chef one and two pound vacuum cans, are being distributed throughout the South Texas area.
This unique plan, as announced by Master Chef officials, will give each and every customer the trading stamps of their choice. Stated Menger, “The plan involves every known trading stamp available to South Texas residents and has never been undertaken by any other major coffee roaster. Many months of detailed planning were necessary to bring the complete program to a reality.”
“For the first time, all Master Chef vacuum can customers will receive two hundred and fifty trading stamps of their choice in appreciation for their continued preference of Master Chef Coffee over all other nationally advertised coffees,” said Menger.
Hoffmann-Haymen [sic], fifty-seven year old coffee company, is Texas’ largest independent coffee roasting concern and distributes complete lines of coffee and teas. Some of the most widely known brands are Master Chef Coffee, H & H Coffee, Texas Girl Coffee, Javo Coffee, Anita Coffee, as well as many private hotel and club brands.
In 1959, Menger was honored by the title of “Dean of Southern Coffee Roasters” by the Southern Coffee Roasters Association. This title stands for the highest award of achievement a coffee blending expert can obtain in the coffee industry. Menger, member of the association for forty-five years, is one of only five active roasters in the United Sates [sic] to receive this highly coveted recognition.
Albert Menger, who for the past twenty-one years has worked side by side with his father learning the fine art of coffee roasting and blending, stated that Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co., will continue to maintain the highest quality standards and will constantly seek new ways to improve their service.
More than four of every five oil wells drilled in the world are drilled in the United States. [— unrelated bleed from the adjacent column on p. 31]
Source
Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Tex.), Thursday, 31 August 1961, p. 31, “Master Chef Coffee Plans ‘Appreciation Certificate,’” Advocate News Service (datelined San Antonio). Newspapers.com clip: https://www.newspapers.com/image/441074120/ (accessed 20 May 2026).
