A Collector's Guide to Key-Wind Coffee Tins with Price Guide (Stahl, 1991)
Bibliographic detail
- Title: A Collector’s Guide to Key-Wind Coffee Tins with Price Guide
- Author: James H. Stahl
- Year: 1991
- Publisher: Self-published or Schiffer Publishing (verify on title page)
- ISBN: TBD — verify in-hand
- Pagination: TBD — verify in-hand (compact reference; likely ~80–150 pp)
- Format: Softcover collector reference; standard collectibles-reference trim
Physical description
Compact softcover reference book. Photographs paired with collector notes on key-wind tin variants. The 1991 price guide reflects market values at publication — treat dollar figures as historical context, not live pricing. Condition recorded as good in the accession register.
Provenance
Physically in-hand prior to formal library accessioning; registered to the library 2026-05-24 under the TODO-26 buildout. Accessioned as HH-BOOK-2026-0001. The book had been carried as a resources/ entry prior to this consolidation.
Why it matters
Stahl’s Collector’s Guide to Key-Wind Coffee Tins is the most direct collector reference for the dominant H&H tin form — the key-wind tin. The H&H Master Chef line, H&H Original Blend tins, and numerous other H&H tins in the collection are key-winds; Stahl provides the standardized variant vocabulary and visual catalog that any field-attribution work depends on.
Specifically:
- Master Chef variant attribution — the multi-era Master Chef tin line (HH-CAN-2018-0001, HH-CAN-2018-0003, HH-CAN-2026-0006/0007 lovebug0101 lot, etc.) requires variant attribution against Stahl’s typology.
- Hardware identification — the key-and-strip cutting mechanism, soldered seams, lid types — Stahl’s photographs document the standard hardware variations that help date undated specimens.
- Graphic-layout comparison — color schemes, typography, mascot conventions across the American key-wind universe. H&H tins read against the broader landscape.
- Period market context — 1991 prices document one moment in collector-market awareness; cross-reference for any provenance research on tins moving through the collector market in that era.
Pairs in the library with Coffee Antiques (Kvetko & Congdon-Martin, 2000) (Schiffer general-collectibles survey), Antique Coffee Grinders (White, 2001), and Early American Coffee Mills (White, 1993) as the collector reference shelf. Together with the Toulouse glass pair (jars and bottles), they form the collection’s complete object-attribution reference kit.
Notable contents
- Photographed catalog of key-wind tin variants — single brands, multi-brand spreads, regional brands.
- 1991 price guide section (historical only).
- Hardware-and-mechanism explanations (key-wind tin construction).
- Variant-spotting guidance: how to tell related tins apart.
Open questions
- Are any H&H tins (Master Chef, Original Blend, Broncho, etc.) pictured in Stahl? Direct page-look needed.
- How does Stahl categorize the Master Chef key-wind specifically? (Regional, brand-specific, multi-era?)
- Stahl’s typology for keywind variants — apply systematically to the H&H tin inventory.
Related
- Coffee Antiques (Kvetko & Congdon-Martin, 2000) — broader collector survey.
- Antique Coffee Grinders (White, 2001) — companion collector reference.
- Early American Coffee Mills (White, 1993) — companion collector reference.
- Bottle Makers and Their Marks (Toulouse, 1971) — companion attribution reference (glass).
- brands/master-chef-coffee.md — the H&H tin line most directly addressed by Stahl.
- resources/a-collector’s-guide-to-key-wind-coffee-tins-with-price-guide.md — citation-pointer page.
- library/index.md — full library holdings.