David G. Evans Coffee Company
St. Louis, Missouri. Spice supplier to Hoffmann-Hayman, identified via the project’s 1.5 oz Anchor-brand black-pepper tin acquired in 2016 — the donor’s research traced the tin to Evans’ “Anchor” spice line. The H&H label scrap on the tin matched an online image of an Anchor Allspice tin, and the bottom of the tin carries an embossed “RC Can — St. Louis, MO” mark consistent with St. Louis can-supplier production for the Evans line.
“Packed for Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co.” appears on all surviving H&H spice tins, raising the question of whether all H&H spices were Evans-packed or whether multiple spice suppliers were used over the line’s run.
Corporate history (web research, 2026-07-22)
Founding date substantially resolved. David G. Evans, a South Wales immigrant, began his coffee career working for the W. & J. G. Flint Company (coffee roasters) in Milwaukee; Flint opened a St. Louis plant in 1858 with Evans as an employee, and he rose to partnership. The renamed Flint-Evans Company sold teas and spices alongside roasted coffee — Evans personally bid on incoming green coffee at the St. Louis riverfront. The firm’s signature brand through the 19th century was Star coffee; Old Judge (with its “Wide Awake Owl” mascot, debuting 1908) became the flagship afterward.
Evans died in 1916; his son Gwynne Evans became president and renamed the firm David G. Evans Coffee Company — the exact corporate name on H&H’s spice tins. A December 1917 fire destroyed the company’s North Second Street building; it was rebuilding on the same street within months. The company continued for “nearly a century” before being sold to New York investors; Chock Full o’Nuts acquired the Old Judge brand specifically in 1964 and sold coffee under that name through the 1980s.
Caveat — the “Anchor” brand link is not independently corroborated by this pass. The sources found (Missouri Life, antiqueadvertisingexpert.com) document Star and Old Judge as Evans’s brand names, including an “Old Judge Paprika” spice tin, but neither mentions an “Anchor” line specifically. This doesn’t contradict the project’s existing tin-matching research (private-label/house-brand spice lines alongside a flagship brand were common for co-packers), but it means “Anchor” as an Evans brand should still be treated as the project’s own identification, not yet backed by an independent source.
Open questions
Founding date and full corporate history of David G. Evans Coffee Co.Substantially resolved 2026-07-22 — see § Corporate history above.- Exact period of the Evans–H&H spice supplier relationship
- Were any H&H spices packed by other suppliers, or was Evans the exclusive packer?
- Surviving Evans-related artifacts beyond the 1.5 oz pepper tin
- Independent corroboration of “Anchor” as a David G. Evans spice-line brand name (not found in this pass — see caveat above)