Master Chef price cards — Houston, 1950s

A fan of matching red grocery price cards — 4 × 6.75 in. light paper stock — lies on pale OSB, stepped so each face reads clearly. Near the top of each card a dashed rule is printed FOLD BACK HERE; below it a white panel carries Special Today! in red script and a large ¢ for chalk pricing. The lower band shows line art of the one-pound Master Chef can — H AND H, MASTER CHEF, COFFEE, EXCELLENCE, and small shoulder copy REGULAR — with the chef in a toque gesturing toward the tin. These were shelf-edge flash cards for retailers stocking H and H.

We acquired the lot 15 June 2017 on eBay (order 192211763476, seller big-hit, $4.94). The listing text emphasized an original paper advertisement naming Hoffmann-Hayman, San Antonio; what we catalog here are these counter cards from the same acquisition, tied in the Instagram caption to 1950s Houston sourcing. Elsewhere in the Master Chef line we keep the large unfolded Master Chef price placard from New Braunfels and the Master Chef one-pound tin (paper cup).

Instagram 2017-06-21: Master Chef price signs circa 1950’s from Houston.