Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co.est. 1899 · San Antonio, Texas

Downtown San Antonio (Korte & Peché, 2013) — Arcadia Images of America

Joan Marston Korte and David L. Peché; foreword by Julian Castro · 2013 · Arcadia Publishing (Images of America series) · ISBN 9780738584911

Downtown San Antonio by Joan Marston Korte and David L. Peché (Arcadia Images of America, 2013)

Downtown San Antonio cover

Bibliographic detail

Physical description

Standard Images of America softcover format from Arcadia Publishing: glossy paperback with a heritage-toned cover photograph (downtown SA archival image — confirm specific image in-hand). Format is paired captioned photographs with short chapter introductions; densely illustrated rather than narrative-heavy. Condition: TBD — verify in-hand.

Provenance

Physically in-hand prior to formal library accessioning; registered to the library 2026-05-24 under the TODO-26 buildout. Original purchase date and source not separately recorded. Accessioned as HH-BOOK-2026-0005. The book had been carried as a resources/ entry prior to this consolidation.

Local searchable scan (research copy)

A full searchable PDF of the book is held locally, git-excluded at raw-archives/library-scans/HH-LIB-2026-0005_downtown-san-antonio_korte-peche-2013_searchable.pdf (116 MB; relocated from work/inbox/ 2026-06-14). It is the entire copyrighted Arcadia work, so it is never committed or published — kept only as a research convenience for full-text H&H/Menger search and to settle the page-127 question below. Cite the book (or extracted page images), not the scan.

Full-text findings (scan searched 2026-06-18)

A full-text pass of the 132-page scan resolves the page-127 question: yes — printed page 127 is the Hoffmann & Hayman / Manuel Peché page, and it is the book’s only H&H mention (the other “coffee” hits are a USO coffee shop; “Menger” is the hotel as a plaza landmark; Mary Louise Peché is credited for an unrelated Kelly AFB photo, p. 48).

The published caption (page 127) — public, citable text:

“Hoffmann & Hayman Coffee Company was located at 601 Delaware Street. Pictured is Manuel M. Peché, who at the age of 16 worked here before he was drafted into World War II. His duties were delivering coffee bags to businesses and helping to roast coffee beans. He also helped to offload coffee from the trains that traveled the tracks on the left side of the building. (Courtesy of Raul Medina III.)”

The facing page notes that Joan Marston Korte and David Peché revisit the spot — a then-and-now of 601 Delaware. Two things this settles for the project:

  1. The photo is courtesy of Raul Medina III — a provenance lead for the gate photo (who holds/supplied the original print), distinct from the surviving tin David Peché still has.
  2. This caption is a published, non-consent-gated baseline for Manuel’s H&H story — David put his father’s H&H role in print in 2013, so the book’s account (age 16; delivering, roasting, offloading; pre-WWII) can be cited publicly now, independent of the family’s pending publication-scope consent on the oral-history additions. The caption adds “helping to roast coffee beans” — a duty the 13 June tour account did not emphasize.

Why it matters

Direct H&H content — the headline value (established June 2026). Co-author David L. Peché included his father, Manuel Peché, in the book as an H&H Coffee delivery driver — his disorienting first day on the route, lost without a map — with a photograph (his father holding an H&H can). The project used this book to identify the first tin in its collection. And co-author David Peché is the living family source behind the 13 June 2026 601 Delaware tour that deepened Manuel’s story. Possibly the captured page 127 asset — to confirm.

Beyond that, Downtown San Antonio is the visual timeline companion to the textual sources on the SA business district. The Arcadia Images of America format pairs captioned photographs with short chapter intros — useful for placing H&H factory and office addresses in their period streetscape context.

Specifically valuable for:

  1. The 1223 W. Commerce address (1912–c.1916) — H&H’s first post-charter plant address; period downtown / near-downtown photos may show signage or the building.
  2. The 601 Delaware Street address (long H&H operating period) — Delaware Street’s evolution and adjacent businesses; the Mi Tierra / Cortez Family commercial district visible in some downtown photos.
  3. Period business signage and storefronts — comparative material for the SA newspaper-clipping signage research thread (brands/master-chef-coffee.md, places/601-delaware-street.md).
  4. Architectural and infrastructure context — when H&H buildings or adjacent landmarks appear unattributed in other photographs, this book’s caption inventory may help identify them.

Pairs in the library with Historic Photos of San Antonio (Faulkner 2007 — large-format photo book) and Saving San Antonio (Fisher 1996 — preservation history) as the SA visual / preservation reference triple.

Notable contents

Open questions