The Anthora Paper Cup, Designed By Leslie Buck (1959)
(Another post inaugurating a new Category here at Before Nine that talks about things so prevalent in our lives and culture that we simply don't see them... Things We Take For Granted.)
There are hundreds of items which mark our times, from music to favored colors and themes; technology and architecture; clothing, vehicles; hairstyles and eyeglasses; even the typefaces used in publications. And there are also humble things -- like the paper coffee cup.
Leslie Buck, the designer of what we've come to expect as the standard paper coffee cup, died at his home in Long Island yesterday.
Born Laszlo Büch in Czechoslovakia in 1922, he was deported by the nazis to Auschwitz and Buchenwald with the rest of his family; only he and his brother, Eugene, survived. They emigrated to the United States after World War II ended in Europe and opened an import-export business in New York.
In the late 1950's, they started the Premiere Cup Company, manufacturing (what; you were expecting socks?) paper cups. Premiere merged with the (not that much larger) Sherri Cup company a few years later, and Buck became its design director.
According to the New York Times, the Sherri Company "was keen to crack New York’s hot-cup market. Since many of the city’s diners were owned by Greeks, Mr. Buck hit on the idea of a Classical cup in the colors of the Greek flag. Though he had no formal training in art, he executed the design himself. It was an instant success.
All-Purpose Cups In The 1950's: For Hot Drinks, The Wax Melted
"Mr. Buck made no royalties from the cup, but he did so well in sales commissions that it hardly mattered, his son said. On his retirement from Sherri in 1992, the company presented Mr. Buck with 10,000 specially made Anthoras, printed with a testimonial inscription."
Leslie Buck In 1991 (New York Times Online)
It made Sherri Cup, Inc. a fortune. The concept was copied by other manufacturers, of course, but Sherri is apparently still going strong, having sold 500 million of Leslie Buck's design worldwide last year. Naturally, the standard white, 8-ounce card stock cup with the rolled lip and coated inner surface is now a standard item all over the planet.
Every morning, I get a tall cup of whatever Java that the Asian Breakfast Place near my office brews, but never paid much attention to the container I pour it into. I've seen cups like it from the moment I understood the concept of a paper cup, and until now had no idea who designed it.
Dairy Queen's Version With Rolled Lip And 'Safety Bulge', 1960's
The Greeks of the Classical world believed that no person ever died, so long as they remained in the memory of the living. No one knows whether that's so -- but give Leslie a thought next time you order a brew at Starbuck's, or Peets, or 7-11.
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