These days I’ve dialed back down to decaf but every Sunday morning begins with a nice steaming cup of this stuff. Now it’s slightly more exotic brands than Chase & Sanborn but this is the one that got the habit rolling back in the ’70s for me. Though the can may be a little battered now it actually represented lots of breakthroughs in coffee can packaging that revolutionized the industry. For one, the No-Slip Strip, a little sardine like key that you broke off the bottom and used to wrap the metal strip that held the can together into a neat, tight coil avoiding bloody fingers that were inevitable without such an instrument.
Despite the company merging with Nabisco in 1981, a lot of Chase & Sanborn cans still exist today because the key allowed the can to open without squashing its shape so many people kept them to store a bunch of other junk in.
This can was also the first of Chase & Sanborn’s “Pressure Packed” models, an innovation that insured the coffee stay fresher longer inside its little coffee tomb.
Fresh is what I need today given the amount of coffee/decaf I will be chugging as I’m immersed in making sets, props, ipod playlists, name tags and the like for a huge party I’m throwing here next Sunday in addition to whacking away at several song deadlines and attempting to talk myself into working on my first ever performance in 35 years which I’ve also threatened to do this summer. It may not be Chase & Sanborn that I’m swigging back but memories of twisting open this can and THAT smell hitting my nose as I made a cup of coffee before starting out on my day in New York, banging on the doors of record companies trying to get a job, is enough to keep my senses alive and keep me slugging through the day.
Sheryl Bryant
Allee, what is this hint of a live performance this summer? That would be great! Remember some of us midwestern fans would need advance notice to save and plan to get out there. Keep us posted. Sheryl Bryant
Howard
Thanks for posting this! I love old cans and bottles because they say so much about the era they were from. My favorite coffee brand is Chock full o’Nuts. I am originally from NYC and whenever I see that can, it reminds me of the city I love so much!
Plus their jingle is a classic!
Allee
Sheryl – Will definitely keep you posted. It’s going to be a very mutant kind of performance, somewhere between a one-woman show, a party and a creativity workshop. If only I had thought of this 35 years ago I would’ve stayed on stage. with
Howard – Chock Full o’Nuts jingle was heavenly!
Howard
Allee, your comment was perfect. But what should I expect from such a wonderfully talented woman!