H and H Coffee

Dedicated to the history of the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. founded 1899 in San Antonio, Texas.

Clara H. Allred

Mrs. Clara H. Allred — Hoffmann-Hayman Special Demonstrator of H and H Products. Profiled in the 26 August 1923 San Antonio Light employee series (page 62) with the printed heading “Mrs. Allred Special Demonstrator.”

The article reads: “Mrs. Allred probably is one of the best known demonstrators in Texas. She has been constantly employed by the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co., to demonstrate the deliciousness of H and H Coffee and H and H Orange Pekoe Tea to the housewives of San Antonio. Her demonstrations are held in the grocer’s store, as a special sales-service that the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee company give their grocers.”

Key entities extracted:

  • Products demonstrated: H and H Coffee and H and H Orange Pekoe Tea (specific tea variety confirmed)
  • Audience: housewives of San Antonio at grocer locations
  • Program framing: an explicit sales-service H&H provided to their grocers, not a direct-to-consumer program
  • Scope: “probably one of the best known demonstrators in Texas” — the role had broader industry recognition

The demonstrator role was one of two visible women’s positions at H&H in the 1923 press series (the other was Irene Brown). The “special” qualifier in Allred’s title likely reflects seniority or geographic scope vs. Brown’s “demonstrator” title.

Open questions

  • Full vitals, San Antonio directory citations
  • Tenure dates and whether the demonstrator role continued past 1923
  • Distinction between “special demonstrator” (Allred) and plain “demonstrator” (Brown) — seniority, scope, or pay?

See also