R.I.P.

Pour One Out for the Creator of the Blue-and-White Coffee Cup

Photo: NYT

This morning we’ll be forgoing our La Colombe for the breakfast cart, in honor of the man who designed the iconic “We Are Happy To Serve You” coffee cup. Leslie Buck, a concentration-camp survivor who designed “the Anthos” when he was marketing director at Sheri Cup in the mid-sixties, has died of Parkinsons complications at the age of 87. “Mr. Buck made no royalties from the cup,” says the Times, “but he did so well in sales commissions that it hardly mattered, his son said.” But here’s perhaps the saddest part: Sales of the cup have gone down from 500 million to about 200 million in 2005, and Solo (which now owns Sheri) no longer catalogues it (it makes the cup only by special request). Oh well, you can always get the “green,” ceramic, “ethically made” version.

Leslie Buck, Designer of Iconic Coffee Cup, Dies at 87 [NYT via DI]

Pour One Out for the Creator of the Blue-and-White Coffee Cup