The 16th of July celebrates Dixie Cups.
On the 16th of July 1912, Lawrence W. Luellen of Boston received U.S. patent 1032557 for his invention.
Food manufacturers have now taken “disposable” to an unsustainable extreme, but there was a time when this innovation actually had a positive side to it.
At the time, public water was drunk in shared cups or dippers that anyone who came along would sip out of. From following the emerging knowledge about germs, Luellen realized that this practice was ideal for spreading disease. His invention was designed as a population health measure by stopping the practice of shared cups.
“The product was a life-saving technology that avoided the transmission of disease from communal “tin dippers”. [1]Smith, Peter. The Unnatural History of the Dixie Cup. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Magazine. 13 June 2012. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-unnatural-history-of-the-dixie-cup-119828457/
So, his innovation of easily degradable paper cups was actually a positive advance, given the context and the time.
Who could have foreseen that the concept of disposability of public health would end up being driven to the extreme for profit that it is now? Perhaps we are as much to blame as the companies, though. Food Historian Cory Bernat said:
“Companies… are very quick to reassure people it’s OK to ask for convenience, and people who are very quick to accept that offer. People just want this thing out of their hands in the easiest way possible.” [2]Park, Michael Y. A Brief History of the Disposable Coffee Cup. New York, N.Y.: Bon Appetit Magazine. 30 May 2014. Accessed July 2021 at https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/disposable-coffee-cup-history
In any event, at the start of the 1900s, the appearance of something that would do away with disease-spreading shared public cups was an advance.
The Museum of Modern Art has a Dixie Cup in its collection, item number 161.2005. [3]Accessed June 2021 at https://www.moma.org/collection/works/90113?artist_id=27027&page=1&sov_referrer=artist
#DixieCups #DixieCupDay
See also: Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College.
Luellen’s paper cup patent 1032557
History
Luellen actually invented the cup in 1907:
“In 1907, he invented a paper cup—almost more of a paper bag at that point—that didn’t have to be shared, and that could be thrown away after use.” [4]Park, Michael Y. A Brief History of the Disposable Coffee Cup. New York, N.Y.: Bon Appetit Magazine. 30 May 2014. Accessed July 2021 at https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/disposable-coffee-cup-history
His business partner was his brother-in-law Hugh Moore (1887-1972) . [5]Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College. Accessed June 2021 at https://sites.lafayette.edu/dixieexhibit/1910s
Initially their cups were meant to be dispensed from chilled water machines, which they also made. For a penny, people could get a drink of chilled, clean water in a sanitary cup.
The popularity of the idea led them in 1910 to set up a company in New York City with the name of “Individual Drinking Cup Company of New York” to also sell the cups on their own.
In 1912, they named their product the “Health Kup”.
Around 1919, they renamed the product to the Dixie Cup. “In 1912, the cup began to be called the Health Kup and about 1919 the Health Kup became the Dixie Cup.” [6]Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College. Accessed June 2021 at https://sites.lafayette.edu/dixieexhibit/1910s
The name does not refer to the American South. Instead, it was inspired by a line of dolls manufactured by Alfred Schindler’s Dixie Doll Company in the same building. [7]Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College. Accessed June 2021 at https://sites.lafayette.edu/dixieexhibit/1910s The Dixie Doll Company today is largely remembered for its association with Dixie Cups.
“One day, Moore stopped in at the Dixie Doll Company and asked the dollmaker if he could borrow their name for his cup, because, apparently, the vessels were now as reliable as old ten-dollar bills (dixies, from the French dix) issued by Louisiana prior to the Civil War, according to Anne Cooper Funderburg’s account in Sundae Best.” [8]Smith, Peter. The Unnatural History of the Dixie Cup. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Magazine. 13 June 2012. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-unnatural-history-of-the-dixie-cup-119828457/
Sources
“History of the Paper Cup. Printed Cup Company. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.printedcupcompany.com/about-us/history-paper-cup/
Krasny, Jill. The Dixie Cup Was Never Built To Last. New York, NY: Business Insider Magazine. 18 June 2012. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/why-the-dixie-cup-was-invented-2012-6
Park, Michael Y. A Brief History of the Disposable Coffee Cup. New York, N.Y.: Bon Appetit Magazine. 30 May 2014. Accessed July 2021 at https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/disposable-coffee-cup-history
Smith, Peter. The Unnatural History of the Dixie Cup. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Magazine. 13 June 2012. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-unnatural-history-of-the-dixie-cup-119828457/
References
↑1 | Smith, Peter. The Unnatural History of the Dixie Cup. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Magazine. 13 June 2012. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-unnatural-history-of-the-dixie-cup-119828457/ |
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↑2 | Park, Michael Y. A Brief History of the Disposable Coffee Cup. New York, N.Y.: Bon Appetit Magazine. 30 May 2014. Accessed July 2021 at https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/disposable-coffee-cup-history |
↑3 | Accessed June 2021 at https://www.moma.org/collection/works/90113?artist_id=27027&page=1&sov_referrer=artist |
↑4 | Park, Michael Y. A Brief History of the Disposable Coffee Cup. New York, N.Y.: Bon Appetit Magazine. 30 May 2014. Accessed July 2021 at https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/disposable-coffee-cup-history |
↑5 | Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College. Accessed June 2021 at https://sites.lafayette.edu/dixieexhibit/1910s |
↑6 | Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College. Accessed June 2021 at https://sites.lafayette.edu/dixieexhibit/1910s |
↑7 | Sanitary: The Age of Dixie Cups. Online Exhibit. Easton, PA: Lafayette College. Accessed June 2021 at https://sites.lafayette.edu/dixieexhibit/1910s |
↑8 | Smith, Peter. The Unnatural History of the Dixie Cup. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Magazine. 13 June 2012. Accessed June 2021 at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-unnatural-history-of-the-dixie-cup-119828457/ |