Brothers Edward McClure Manning (1872-1956) and William Wayland Manning (1874-1938) began selling freshly roasted coffee beans from a small stall in the Pike Place Market in 1908. Soon, they started offering customers cups of brewed coffee, and before long Manning's expanded its menu to include baked goods and full cafeteria service. By around 1950, the company had ten restaurants in various parts of the city where they sold "home-style food, delicious coffee, and heavenly cakes to take home." The company also had its own bakery and coffee roasting plant. At its peak, Manning's Coffee and Tea boasted over 40 locations on the West Coast, including Canada and Hawaii. The last Manning's shop, in San Francisco, closed in 1984.
In the 1930s, a pound of Manning's coffee sold for 35 cents, as printed on this bag. The back of this bag lists ten West Coast cities where Manning's coffee shops were located at the time.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
