Yesterday, April 29, the New York Times reported that Leslie Buck, designer of the famous Anthora paper coffee cup, pictured top-right, passed away. The whole article can be read here, and I recommend giving it a look. It’s a pretty interesting read, covering not only Buck’s fascinating life, but also how a design that is just perfect for its market can take off and develop a life of its own.
Introduced in the 1960s, Buck’s Anthora cup eventually became so famous that at one point 500 million copies of it were sold yearly. The cup’s popularity has earned it appearances as a prop on New York-based TV shows like Law and Order, as well as a crossovers souvenir merchandise in the form of ceramic mugs and T-shirts.
Click here to read the entire story from The New York Times.
