CUP OF JOE
I’m a sucker for iconic things. It is probably the luddite in me that fears progression. Every time a bookstore goes under I literally weep (I know, for me this is not a hard task, but it’s utterly sincere). The funny thing is – as you can surmise – I’m totally addicted to my laptop. But that is where it ends. I hate phones (my friends and family will concur I never answer my phone), I do not have an ipad, blackberry, or anything of that nature, and my boyfriend’s quest for me to upgrade my archaic phone to something fancy has been going on for about two years now. For me, going to the library – with my archaic phone in tow - and checking out a book and feeling the pages is something I refuse to ever give up.
Speaking of icons, Leslie Buck died….You are probably saying, WHO?? He designed NYC’s iconic blue and white paper coffee cup, titled the Anthora cup. Trust me, you’ve seen it positively everywhere (look UP): movies, TV shows, talk shows…not to mention, if you ever visited NYC you couldn’t walk two paces without seeing this legendary paper cup.
What I love most about it is the history behind this cup and the fact that New Yorkers began to identify with it so much that it became part of the fabric of the city – that is what I love most about New Yorkers, their loyalty is unparalleled. And no self respecting cop, taxi driver, or native New Yorker was going to be caught dead walking around the city drinking their coffee in a Starbucks cup. This cup meant 'I go to diners, and I take my coffee black damn it - none of that frappe frothy bullshit.'
The designer was an Auschwitz survivor, (formerly known as Laszlo Buch) and he came here with nothing - not a cent, no family, nada. Apparently, after going through what he had, he was all about respecting one’s fellow human beings (if I had survived what he had, I would think my fellow humans were nothing better than dogs. You see how evolved he was!). So much so, that when he was given the task of designing this cup he spent hours in the library researching Greek design so that he could honor the heritage of the Greek diner owners who bought his products and put food on his table. You see that - loyalty.
I realize I’m now starting to sound like my grandfather – “I used to walk 4 miles in the driving snow just to get to school and movies cost 2 cents!” – but sometimes I find it so depressing that we’re so desperate to rid ourselves of the ‘old’ for the shiny spanking new. I like brands that have never changed their packaging or slogans. A Coke can for instance, I don’t drink the stuff, but you can’t mess with that can. That is a piece of pop history. Some brands I even dump when they do a massive redesign; I think, nooooo you don't, you're not messing with something that works. And low and behold, most of them feel the heat and return to the original format/design. I’m sure it’s the nostalgia in people who just want certain things to stay the same. I know it is for me, and hey, why not?! Change and progression means forward movement, and not always for the better. Change means I’m getting old! And who needs a reminder of that.