The Anthora is a paper coffee cup design that has become iconic of New York City daily life[1] — its name is a play on the word amphora.
The cup was originally designed by Leslie Buck of the Sherri Cup Co. in 1963,[1] to appeal to Greek-owned coffee shops in New York City — and was later copied heavily by other companies.[2] The genuine Anthora depicts an image of an Ancient Greek amphora, a meander design on the top and bottom rim, and the words "WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU" in a font that resembles ancient Greek writing. The blue and white colors were inspired by the flag of Greece. The cup subsequently became the metropolitan area's definitive coffee-to-go cup;[2]
Sales of the cup reached 500 million in 1994 (when it was by far the most popular design for the company's cups[3] ), but fell to about 200 million cups annually in 2005.[1] One New York Times writer in 1995 called the Anthora "perhaps the most successful cup in history".[3] By 2007, it was mentioned in passing in a New York Times television review as "one of those endangered artifacts".[4]
The trademark was acquired by the Solo Cup Company, which licenses sales of the cup.[5] The Anthora coffee cup is featured in movies and television shows that are set in New York such as NYPD Blue, Nurse Jackie, Castle, and the Law & Order franchise.[6]
Buck never made royalties from his design, but as a salesman he was remunerated handsomely from the success of the product. When he retired from Sherri Cup Co. in 1992, he was presented with 10,000 Anthoras printed with a testimonial inscription. On the occasion of Buck's death in 2010, a New York Times writer described the motto on the cup as having "welcome intimations of tenderness, succor and humility".[1]