Styrene cups began a decline, and paper coffee cups staged a comeback.īut the pivotal moment in the war between foam and paper came about in 1987 and can be summed up in a single word: Starbucks. The environmental movement was no longer a niche philosophy, and mainstream Americans were finally absorbing the concept of conscientious consumerism. ![]() Meanwhile, as the coffee-cup lid was having its decade in the sun, the styrene foam cup was going through dark times. ![]() In 1975, for example, the pull-back tab was invented, building upon Frank's tear-away lid. Throughout the '70s, as styrene cups invaded our desks and car cup holders, disposable-coffee-cup innovation seemed to hit a relative lull, with the most exciting developments taking place with lids-most importantly when it came to to-go drinking. "So it's really quite natural that we would want coffee to go." "We've always been a nation on the go, on the run, in a hurry, and since the Boston Tea Party, we have been fueled primarily by coffee in that rush to wherever we're going," says Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Changed Our World. In 1967, Philadelphian Alan Frank filed a patent for a tearable coffee lid, finally acknowledging that Americans were drinking their coffee as they walked. Toward the tail end of the decade, coffee lids began to come into their own, too. The company quickly expanded to-go coffee to the rest of its Northeast chains, and then nationwide. Though the Anthora design can be special-ordered, it is now printed on slimmer, taller Solo cups, rather than the squatter cups New Yorkers remember, according to Melissa Dye, product manager of the Solo division of Dart.)Īnd in 1964 on Long Island, N.Y., convenience chain 7-Eleven became the first chain to offer fresh coffee in to-go cups. The original Sherri machines used to make the Anthora cup were thrown out. (It's also extinct: Sherri Cup was later bought by Solo Cup, which was in turn recently bought by Dart. The instantly recognizable design-blue and white with bronze lettering, with an ancient Greek theme (Buck named it "Anthora" because he mispronounced the word "amphora") and the words "We Are Happy to Serve You"-became a constant of everyday life in New York City, with a 1995 New York Times story declaring it " the most successful cup in history." ![]() In 1963, a Czech immigrant named Leslie Buck designed the iconic Anthora cup for Sherri Cup of Connecticut. Coffee cups were also starting to get attention for their aesthetics.
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