Large black-outlined oval display ad from the San Antonio Express-News of Monday, 25 March 1968 — a Handy-Andy coffee-war price-cluster ad bundling Master Chef with the major national-brand competitors at the same per-can sale price: all grinds 1-LB. CAN 59¢, 2-LB. CAN $1.17, limit 2 Lbs. total; additional 1-lb at 75c and 2-lb at $1.49.
A small bespectacled chef mascot peeks over the top-left of the oval — the recurring monocled-chef character used by Master Chef Food Products since the late-1966 color-keyed-cans refresh (HH-CLIP-1966-0001, HH-CLIP-1966-0002).
Three takeaways:
- Master Chef is explicitly named in Handy-Andy’s “Premium” tier alongside Folger’s, Maryland Club, and Maxwell House. The grocer’s own Handy-Andy Premium house brand is at the same sale price — useful private-label-strategy datapoint for San Antonio retail history.
- Sale-price 59¢/lb in March 1968 is the same temporary 59¢ sale price as the [15 June 1967 SA Light grocer-banner cluster]({% post_url 1967-06-15-san-antonio-light-coffee-59c-master-chef-grocer-ad %}). Suggests 59¢ was the dominant coffee-war floor for 1-lb cans across multiple South Texas grocery chains from mid-1967 through early 1968.
- Add’l-quantity price 75c/lb — the actual non-promotional shelf price in early 1968 — matches the H.E.B. shelf price 30 months earlier in September 1965 (HH-CLIP-1965-0002). Stable shelf price across 1965-1968 despite frequent coupon/sale activity.
Transcription
FOLGER’S, MARYLAND CLUB,
MAXWELL HOUSE, MASTER CHEF
OR HANDY-ANDY PREMIUM
Coffee
ALL GRINDS 1-LB. CAN
59¢
2-LB. CAN $1.17
Limit 2 Lbs. Total
Add’l. 1-lb. 75c; 2-lb. $1.49
Source
- Handy-Andy “Coffee 59¢” oval display ad, San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio, Tex.), Monday, 25 March 1968, p. 9.
- Digital clip: Newspapers.com (accessed 20 May 2026).
- Archived PDF: /assets/pdfs/1968-03-25-san-antonio-express-news-handy-andy-coffee-59c-master-chef-premium.pdf.
- Gallery: Newspaper Clippings (HH-CLIP-1968-0003).