Wesco Coffee

Wesco was a flagship Morrison Coffee Company brand—quoted in 1-, 2-, and 3-pound cans in 1912 and 1915 Express-News market columns, named in the December 1915 Manufacturers’ Club Wilson wedding gift list (“one can Wesco coffee” from Morrison), and spelled out again in a March 1916 Special Notice when Morrison corrected a manufacturers-page misquote. The 28 January 1917 San Antonio Express Hoffmann-Hayman acquisition announcement is the definitive transfer document: H&H purchased Morrison’s roasting plant, stock, brands, blends, and good-will effective 1 February 1917 and committed to “continue the packing of all the well-known brands (including ‘WESCO,’ ‘MISA,’ ‘BRONCHO,’ ‘TEXCO’ and ‘JUANITA’) of the Morrison Coffee Co.” After the merger, 1917 wholesale rosters and Liberty Loan sponsor cells still lead with Wesco beside H. & H. Blend.

The archive does not yet include a Wesco tin in hand. The 13 December 1914 Express-News Morrison clip (page 44) carries ink drawings of Morrison packs in one grouping—the Wesco round can with its longhorn trade-mark panel appears beside Texco, Misa, and other lines. The 1916 notice remains the strongest large-type “WESCO” print reference; 1912/1915 columns document multi-weight can pricing.

Products

1. Wesco Brand — 1-pound cans (e.g. 31¢ Aug 1912, 33¢ May 1915, 40¢ corrected Mar 1916 notice)
2. Wesco Brand — 2-pound cans (62¢ / 65¢ in 1912 / 1915 market lines)
3. Wesco Brand — 3-pound cans (93¢ / 96¢ market lines; $1.15 in the Mar 1916 correction)
4. Wesco — 1 and 3-lb. cans (wholesale roster language in the 19 Aug 1917 Express clipping)

Packaging

No collection specimen is catalogued. Use the 1914 facsimile for period can art; the 1916 facsimile for corrected list pricing.

Advertising

1. Morrison Coffee — 13 Dec 1914 — full-page clip with ink drawings of Wesco, Texco, Misa, and allied packs.
2. Wesco / Misa price correction, 21 Mar 1916 — Special Notice facsimile.
3. Sugar and coffee — 24 Aug 1912 · 4 May 1915 — Wesco Brand can ladder in market type.
4. Wilson gifts — 19 Dec 1915 — donor line: Morrison Coffee Company, one can Wesco coffee.
5. 19 Aug 1917 wholesale line · 19 Oct 1917 Light sponsor cell — Wesco with H. & H. Blend and Texco after the merger.

Collection posts

• 13 Dec 1914 Morrison clip — ink drawings
• 21 Mar 1916 Special Notice
• 1912 and 1915 market columns
• Wilson gift article, 19 Dec 1915
• 28 Jan 1917 Morrison notice (part 1)

Reference photography

No physical Wesco tin has been catalogued; 1914 halftone ink drawings are the earliest pack-art reference on the site. Additional non-collection frames may appear in Reference under sibling brands.

Newspaper & period branding

1914 Morrison halftone and 1916 Special Notice facsimiles appear under Packaging and Advertising; market columns and wholesale cells are linked from Collection posts. Indexes: Newspaper ads · Branding in Newspapers.

Documented absence after 1917

Wesco is named in H. & H. wholesale and Liberty Loan rosters through autumn 1917 but is silent in the post-1917 H&H sources catalogued on the site:

• 26 Aug 1923 Light products spread — full H&H line-up (Master Chef · Texco · Spoon · Broncho · H. & H. Blend); no Wesco.
• 1942 H&H wholesale price sheets — Package (H AND H · SAN ANTONIO · Texas Girl · Anita · Texco · Big Value · Cafe Coffees including M. Chef A/B) and Bulk (Economy Blend Cereal-and-Coffee, Peaberry tier, specialty pails); no Wesco SKU.
• 1957–1964 postwar attestations (Master Chef · Master Chef Instant) — no Wesco.

The exit window is Oct 1917 → Aug 1923. Of the Morrison five (Wesco, Misa, Broncho, Texco, Juanita) named in the 28 Jan 1917 acquisition notice, only Texco survives to the 1942 wholesale sheets. Wesco is the paradox of the cohort: the flagship Morrison name in market-column ladders, Wilson-gift donor copy, the 1916 Special Notice, and post-merger sponsor cells — yet it did not carry into H&H’s mid-century portfolio.

See Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Company for portfolio-wide brand-attrition context.

Related lines

• Misa Coffee · Broncho Coffee · Texco Coffee · Juanita Coffee — the Morrison five named in the 28 Jan 1917 acquisition notice; Wesco is the flagship of the cohort, Texco the lone 1942 survivor.
• Morrison Coffee Company — predecessor firm; Wesco was the flagship Morrison wordmark, named in the 28 Jan 1917 acquisition notice and gone from the 23 August 1923 Light products spread.
• Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Company — corporate hub; brand-portfolio chronology.
• 1942 H&H wholesale price sheets — mid-century portfolio anchor (Wesco absent).
• H and H Product Line — product-family index.

Wanted

Wesco is listed on Wanted until a tin, photograph, or dealer listing can be tied to the label. Contact if you can help document one.