Innovation Blog

Anthora Cup: WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU!

By Shlomo Maital

                                        ANTHORA Cup                     

 You know those paper coffee cups that are ubiquitous and so taken for granted?

     If they could speak, they would tell an interesting story.  The inventor, Leslie Buck, has just passed away.   According to the New York Times (April 28):

             It was for decades the most enduring piece of ephemera in New York City and is still among the most recognizable. Trim, blue and white, it fits neatly   in the hand, sized so its contents can be downed in a New York minute. It is as vivid an emblem of the city as the Statue of Liberty, beloved of property masters who need to evoke Gotham at a glance in films and on television.   It is, of course, the Anthora, the cardboard cup of Grecian design that has held New Yorkers’ coffee securely for nearly half a century.  ….The Anthora seems to have been here forever, as if bestowed by the gods at the city’s creation. But in fact, it was created by man — one man in particular, a refugee from Nazi Europe named Leslie Buck.

   Who was Leslie Buck?  He was born Laszlo Buch, in 1922, to a Jewish Czech family.  His parents were killed by the Nazis during WWII.  Laszlo survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald.  After the war he made it to New York, and started an import-export business with his brother, Eugene, who had also survived the death camps.  They started Premier Cup, a paper cup manufacturer, in the late 1950’s.  Buck joined Sherri Cup, a startup company, in the 1960’s, and for a time was its entire sales force. 

     Sherri wanted to crack New York’s hot-cup market.  At the time, many of the city’s diners were owned by Greeks.  Buck had the idea of a Classical Grecian cup, with the drawing of a Greek vase called the “amphora” on it,  in the colors of the Greek flag.  Buck called it “Anthora”,  which his son said is how “amphora” sounds when spoken with a Czech accent.  Buck  had no training in design — but designed the cup himself.  It was a huge success.   Hundreds of millions were made every year.  Buck got no royalties for his design, but became wealthy through sales commissions.  He retired from Sherri in 1992. 

    The key to the cup’s success, apart from its functionality?   Its motto, written simply, in a Classical  font,  as:

            WE ARE HAPPY

            TO SERVE YOU

     I have long  believed that product design should be done in teams with sales persons playing a key role.  They know the soul of their customers intimately, because their income depends on it.  Lesley Buck/Laszlo Buch is a strong example.