Crystalvac jars: Three Rivers vs. Owens-Illinois — Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. collection pages

Source: https://www.handhcoffeefactory.com/ — pages: /brands/crystalvac_jars/, /h_and_h_coffee_three_pound_jar/, /h_and_h_one_pound_crystalvac_jar/, /history/, /three-rivers-bottles/. Ingested: 2026-07-26 (WebFetch synthesis across the H&H collection pages). Nature of source: the coffee company’s own research/collection site — the primary holder of the physical Crystalvac jars, but an independent, non-peer-reviewed collector analysis. Its cited scholarly anchor is Smith 1989, not Lockhart/SHA.

The Crystalvac line

• Crystalvac was Hoffmann-Hayman’s vacuum-packed retail glass coffee line, introduced in 1932 (as tin prices rose; announced in the San Antonio Register, June 10, 1932). Screw lids read “We Roast It — Others Praise It.” The threading fit standard Kerr/Mason-Ball lids, so housewives reused them for home canning (San Antonio Express, Sept 10, 1934, naming the “Sam Houston, H & H, and Texas Girl” Crystalvac jars).

Two makers on the jars

• Three Rivers Glass Co. (Three Rivers, TX), 1932–1936/37 — made the one-pound Crystalvac jars, in both clear and amber glass, marked with the “3 Rivers ★” star and 601-series mold codes (601-1, -3, -4, -5, -7). Three Rivers was in receivership from 1932, reorganized under Ball interests in December 1936, and the Texas corporation dissolved in January 1937.
• Owens-Illinois Glass Co., 1936–1939+ — supplied both one-pound and three-pound jars, in clear glass only, marked with the “Diamond-Oval-I” mark. Plant digit “7” = Alton, Illinois (not Texas — shipped by rail). Single-digit year codes place surviving jars at 1936 (“6”) and 1938 (“8”); the site also reports one 3-lb jar read as “2” = 1932.

The site’s own conclusions (verbatim)

“Collection specimens now date O-I supply to 1936–1939, overlapping the Three Rivers period rather than succeeding it.”

“Many Crystalvac blanks carry Owens-Illinois marks because Three Rivers had been in receivership since 1932 … meaning H&H was almost certainly dual-sourcing through the 1930s.”

“The unresolved mystery is whether Owens-Illinois replaced Three Rivers after it ‘was shutdown in 1937.’ … Did O-I take over for Three Rivers when it was shutdown in 1937?”

Caveats the site itself raises: an O-I mark “does not imply a post-1940 jar” (read the date code, not the wall texture); the O-I oval mark was barely used before 1930, so the anomalous 1932-coded 3-lb jar “needs reconciling.” The color split is the OPPOSITE of a naive guess: amber occurs only on the Three Rivers small jars; the O-I jars are clear. The maker signal is the mark + jar size, not the glass color.