# Coffee brand from the 60s. Help? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [October 8, 2020, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476 "2020-10-08T07:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/1 "2020-10-08T07:15:16Z")
I was just reminiscing tonight about the 1960s and food and drink. But the following has got me stumped, so I turn to you, dear friends, to see if you can help. My folks had a particular brand of coffee they drank. Here’s all I remember. It was ground coffee. It was in a blue can. It was opened by a key that you broke off the bottom of the can, and then wrapped a metal seal around the key as you circled the can. It was not Maxwell House. Any help here? I’ve googled like crazy and nothing comes up. I’ll know it immediately if someone says it. Thanks!! ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Fairway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Mrs\_Fairway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Fairway)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/2 "2020-10-08T11:21:53Z")
Chase and Sanborn? I don’t remember the color of the can, but I remember their commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/3 "2020-10-08T11:41:59Z")
My mind immediately went to Yuban, but apparently that was a false alarm. A Google image search shows no blue cans. I can easily picture a dark blue coffee with a short name in orange sans serif type, but I don’t trust my mind on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/4 "2020-10-08T11:42:04Z")
How about Hills Bros? My grandmother used that an I remember the Blue Can. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/5 "2020-10-08T11:45:44Z")
> [@Mrs\_Fairway](#): > > Chase and Sanborn? I don’t remember the color of the can, but I remember their commercials. Chase and Sanborn was my first thought, and I _do_ remember that the can was [blue.](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.pngguru.com%2Fpreview%2F972%2F102%2F466%2Fchase-sanborn-coffee-can-thumbnail.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pngguru.com%2Ffree-transparent-background-png-clipart-vwwcs&tbnid=xI_w_4e11Sdn4M&vet=12ahUKEwjhhMyW9aTsAhVH9qwKHSjyDdsQMyg-egQIARB0..i&docid=t81g02lcxlx5HM&w=300&h=251&q=Chase%20and%20Sanborn&client=firefox-b-1-d&ved=2ahUKEwjhhMyW9aTsAhVH9qwKHSjyDdsQMyg-egQIARB0) It was my grandmother’s regular brand. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/6 "2020-10-08T11:51:53Z")
I don’t know coffee, let alone American vintage brands, but here’s what a ‘blue’ image search came up with: First Call Best Value Ehlers Hi-Ho Blue Moon Astor Mannings White House JFG Special Tiger Horn and Hardart ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/7 "2020-10-08T13:17:52Z")
In those days pretty much every coffee was sold ground, in a can, and the can had the snap-off key on the bottom to wind up the metal tear-strip to open the can. There really were no other packaging options. So that part is no help. Some googling images of old coffee cans shows Maxwell House and Chase and Sanborn as the two biggies for blue cans. I was a kid in that era and those two are also the ones that leap to my mind; no others. Google says Sanka sometimes had a partly blue can as well. Sanka was pretty much the only decaf possibility in those days so if the OP remembers the parents did decaf that’d be a big clue towards Sanka. I was hoping to google up a coffee can collectors’ site, but that idea was crowded out by all the links to Etsy where someone is selling old cans. Of course in addition to the national brands there were some regional brands and some national grocery chains even had own-brand coffee. Kroger is one such that Google says came in a partly blue can. if the OP can recall the name of the parent’s favorite grocery store(s) that might be a good search term to refine by. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/8 "2020-10-08T13:49:23Z")
Looking for “vintage coffee can blue” on Bing and looking at the images that show up, the following brands seem to have blue, or predominantly blue cans (that aren’t Maxwell House): - Chase and Sanborn - Blue Knot - Astor - Caswell’s (looks older than the 1960s though) - Blue Moon (also looks older) - Manning’s - Blue Ribbon - Peak - Hills Bros (looks older) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/9 "2020-10-08T14:38:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In those days pretty much every coffee was sold ground, in a can… And you could bake pumpkin bread in those cans. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/10 "2020-10-08T14:51:07Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > And you could bake pumpkin bread in those cans. And store your spare bolts. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/11 "2020-10-08T14:55:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And store your spare bolts.- Well, you can store your bolts (and colored pencils, and buttons and dog treats) in the newer plastic coffee cans, but don’t try to bake pumpkin bread in one. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/12 "2020-10-08T14:58:54Z")
I don’t think Chock Full o’Nuts was in a blue can. Some kind of pattern I think. A couple of coffee bean shaped Muppets used to advertise Wilkins Coffee but I don’t remember what it looked like at all. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/13 "2020-10-08T15:23:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, you can store your bolts …in the newer plastic coffee cans, Not if you want them to stay contained. 🙂 One day, you’ll pick up the can, and wammo bolts everywhere. Give me the old metal can anyday for heavy metal. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/14 "2020-10-08T15:33:09Z")
Coffee cans are for unsorted nuts and bolts. If you want to keep them in order you attach baby food jar lids to the bottom of a shelf and keep them in the handy little glass jars. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/15 "2020-10-08T15:38:19Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > It was ground coffee. > It was in a blue can. > It was opened by a key that you broke off the bottom of the can, and then wrapped a metal seal around the key as you circled the can. > It was not Maxwell House. Could it have been a store brand? [![](https://i.etsystatic.com/7391356/r/il/7f2510/2310319575/il_794xN.2310319575_besi.jpg) ](https://i.etsystatic.com/7391356/r/il/7f2510/2310319575/il_794xN.2310319575_besi.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/16 "2020-10-08T15:42:03Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > It was opened by a key that you broke off the bottom of the can, and then wrapped a metal seal around the key as you circled the can. I recall you could get beans fresh ground at the grocery store and take them home in a heavy duty paper bag. But otherwise, didn’t all the ground coffee come in cans like that with the key? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/17 "2020-10-08T15:43:09Z")
Where did you grow up? There were more regional brands back then.The DC area had Wilkins, but the cans were yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/18 "2020-10-08T15:54:44Z")
Thank you for all the responses. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen it yet. I grew up in Los Angeles, in the Windsor Hills area. Big damn city. My mom shopped at a store called Food Fair and also a tiny little local market that no one will ever hear of called Jack’s Market on La Brea. This was the early 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/19 "2020-10-08T16:09:45Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > And you could bake pumpkin bread in those cans. Not only thaty, but you could use the coffee can as a cake pan and make cake in your Rival CrockPot ™ slow cooker. I never tried it myself because who wanted to spend six hours cooking a cake that came out looking like a coffee can. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476/20 "2020-10-08T16:43:13Z")
Empress Coffee came in a blue can that was sealed, apparently made up in Duluth. Ring any bells? > **[Large Antique Empress Coffee Tin / 5 Pound Farmhouse Decor - Etsy](https://www.etsy.com/il-en/listing/630297598/large-antique-empress-coffee-tin-5-pound)** > > Large 5 pound Empress Coffee tin with lid and bale handle and crown design trim Some rust on bottom. Color is black with gold. Could pass for a dark navy color. Label reads Made by the Stone Ordean Wells Company in Duluth, Minnesota. Measures 9 tall... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-brand-from-the-60s-help/922476.md?page=2)