Community Memory — November 2024 Facebook Discovery

In November 2024, a single Facebook post in "Classic San Antonio: 1950–1999" by Terrie Leonard / Vollmer surfaced the most concentrated cluster of living H&H memory the project has encountered. Leonard found original H&H historical photos in a purchased storage locker and posted them asking if anyone recognized them. The post generated 389 reactions and a comment thread with six distinct first-person contact threads — a Hoffmann family descendant, an employee family author, a holder of an unaccounted premium, two oral accounts of the coupon program, and multiple neighborhood witnesses.

Full source: raw-sources/web/2026-06-08-facebook-classic-sa-handh-coffee-photos-leonard.md

The discovery event

Posted: November 2, 2024. Facebook group "Classic San Antonio: 1950–1999."

Leonard included a link to handhcoffeefactory.com in the original post — she had already identified the company before posting. The photos were original prints, not digital scans.

Outcome: Terrie identified Jack Loep in the comments and mailed him the original photos. The update note reads: "thanks to this post, I found a family member and mailed him the original photos!"

Contacts surfaced

Jack Loep — Hoffmann family descendant (highest priority)

Grandson of Olga Towers, niece of William R. Hoffmann. The only known living descendant of the Hoffmann family side.

What he holds:

Original H&H historical photos (received from Terrie Leonard by mail, November 2024)
Two H&H coffee cans (three years of active hunting)

Comment: "My grandmother is Olga Towers, niece of William Hoffmann. It's taken 3 years to find 2 coffee cans so these would be a great addition to my small collection. I'd even be willing to pay for them."

Contact status: Uncontacted as of 2026-06-08. Locate via Facebook group "Classic San Antonio: 1950–1999," November 2, 2024 post.

KB pages: Olga Towers · work/correspondence/jack-loep-hoffmann-family.md

David L. Peché — employee family memory (high priority)

San Antonio author of two Arcadia Publishing "Images of America" books. His father was an H&H Coffee delivery driver and the subject of a chapter in Peché's Downtown San Antonio.

What he holds:

Father's first-person oral account of working at H&H (era TBD)
2012 warehouse visit: owner of 601 Delaware gave father and son free access to roam the building. Father identified the roasting area, lunch area, and dominoes spot — the only documented guided interior tour by someone who worked in the building.
Book: Downtown San Antonio (Arcadia Publishing) — includes the H&H delivery-driver story and a photo. Acquisition candidate ($25 direct from site).

Comment: "My 16 yr old dad was a driver at H&H Coffee Co and shared the story of his 1st day driving and getting lost on a couple businesses because he didn't have a map. In honor of my dad and our city's rich history, I included him in my book, Downtown San Antonio. We both went and visited the warehouse in 2012, the owner allowed us to roam around. Dad gave me a tour and shared where they used to roast the beans and where they used to have lunch and play dominoes."

Contact status: LinkedIn outreach sent 2026-06-08. Email: david@downtownsahistory.com

KB page: work/correspondence/david-peche-linkedin.md

Harry Padalecki — in-pack glass premium (acquisition lead)

Harry Padalecki holds a glass item described as "a prize inside there coffee" — an in-pack glass premium received from H&H. Location reference: "Carolina and Hoefgen st." (one block from 601 Delaware).

This item represents a previously undocumented premium format: in-pack glass, distinct from the deposit-return Crystalvac jar economy, the 18-coupon redemption program, or the trading-stamp programs documented in Premiums.

Comment: "It was located at Carolina and Hoefgen st. I have glass that was a prize inside there coffee"

Contact status: No contact file yet. Locate via same Facebook post.

Estella Sanchez — 18-coupon redemption oral account

Estella Sanchez: "On the front of the PKG was a coupon, my Mom would collect them when you had eighteen of them you could redeem them for one pound of coffee. We were poor so My Mom cherished her coupons." Confirmed by Roger Salazar: "I remember that."

Significance: This is the primary source for the 18-coupon redemption tier now documented in Premiums § Era 4. The coupon was printed on the package face; accumulate 18 and redeem for 1 lb. Brand and exact era are unspecified; the San Antonio neighborhood context suggests H and H Blend or Master Chef, approximately 1940s–1960s.

Neighborhood witnesses — sensory memory

David Walker (grew up on Mesquite St., 3 blocks from plant): "It was located on Delaware Street adjacent to the Southern Pacific railroad tracks between Cherry St and Hoefgen Street. Great aroma from that plant." Confirms site placement precisely.

Cathy Rhudy (grandparents at 700 Delaware, north of the plant): "I remember as small child awakening each morning to the fragrant aroma of the roasting coffee beans!"

Mac Johanson (community artifact awareness): "I'm also searching for a photo of the factory with the huge, amber coffee jar on top!" — confirms community memory of the large amber Crystalvac jar on the building exterior, no photo of which is currently in the collection.

Additional confirmations (corroborative)

Commenter	Content	Already documented
Scott Cogburn	1923 SA Light at 331 Burnett St.	Yes — address known
Tiki Rod	"best coffee of south Texas"; Mi Tierra display sign	Yes — Mi Tierra Cafe
Cheryl LaPlante	"Hoffman of H&H was married to a Menger"	Yes — Menger Family

What this cluster means for the research

The Hoffmann family thread (new). Jack Loep is the first Hoffmann-side (not Menger-side) contact with family materials. The Hoffmann family line has been nearly opaque — only William R. Hoffmann's death notice (1912) and his New Braunfels siblings (named generically) are in the KB. Loep's original photos and two cans are the most likely surviving Hoffmann-family H&H materials outside institutional archives. His grandmother Olga Towers is a starting point for reconstructing the Hoffmann sibling tree. See Olga Towers § Open questions.

The factory-interior witness (new priority). David Peché's father's 2012 tour is the most specific post-Continental interior account on record. He named rooms by function — roasting area, lunch area, dominoes spot. This is high-value floor-plan oral history, and the 2012 visit may have produced photographs. Peché's Downtown San Antonio chapter should be acquired before outreach.

The neighborhood as witness. Walker and Rhudy represent a recurring theme: the plant's smell was a neighborhood fact of daily life, recalled decades later. This supports the sensory-history chapter at Mystery § What did the factory sound and smell like?.

The premium thread (documented). Sanchez's 18-coupon program is now in Premiums § Era 4. Padalecki's glass premium is a new format not yet documented anywhere in the KB.