[h=1]This Iconic Red Cup Has a Secret Feature[/h]<cite class="byline col D-b Fs-n" data-reactid=".0.$cover-mosaic-transition-group.$=1$cover-mosaic-0:0.$article-123463574809.0:$Pos-r.$article-inner-container.$inset-container.$grid-template.0.$col-left.$content.6.0.1.0.$attribution-byline.$byline" style="font-style: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; display: block;">The Kitchn<time class="date Font-C-2-140 Fw-n D-b" data-reactid=".0.$cover-mosaic-transition-group.$=1$cover-mosaic-0:0.$article-123463574809.0:$Pos-r.$article-inner-container.$inset-container.$grid-template.0.$col-left.$content.6.0.1.0.$attribution-byline.$byline.2" style="line-height: 1.4; letter-spacing: 0.02em; font-size: 14px; display: block;">July 13, 2015</time></cite>
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</figure>If you?re attending a backyard barbecue, pool party, or any kind of group gathering, chances are someone?s going to offer you a beverage in a red Solo cup (or its off-brand ilk). Long before it was immortalized in song, the disposable, recyclable, and brightly colored plastic cup has been a de facto accompaniment to good times in the good old U.S. of A.
Here?s why it?s so iconic ? including a secret that you may not know.
From Party Cup Into History
Although the Solo Cup Company has been making paper cups since 1936, it wasn?t until the 1970s ? the decade of Animal House andDazed and Confused ? that the plastic version was first released and immediately adored by collegians, campers, and backyard burger-flippers alike.
Officially called the Party Cup, it was originally introduced in four sizes and four colors, but it?s the red 18-ounce version that?s risen to iconic status. The company is tight-lipped about its sales figures, but recent reports attest that red outsells blue by a vast margin (more than half of Solo?s overall party cup sales) ? and most speculate that the gender-neutral hue is a big part of its runaway appeal.
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</figure>The Secret Feature of the Solo Cup
And here?s something you might not know about the party staple: it?s not just a place to pour your drink, it?s a place tomeasure your drink too!
Yep, the lines on the classic cup design aren?t just for aesthetics or grippiness ? in an act of kismet, they correspond to common fluid-ounce measurements. Starting from the bottom up, they mark one ounce (a perfect shot of bourbon for your Boulevardier or gin for your Negroni); five ounces (a standard wine pour); 12 ounces (a typical can of soda or beer); 16 ounces (aka a pint); and the final 18-ounce mark for any overflow from ice.
These seem too coincidental to not be by design, but Dart Container Corporation, Solo Cup?s present owner, responded to a recent Gizmodo piece and disavowed any intentional correlation between the design and these standard measurements.
It does seem awfully coincidental however; perhaps the corporate line is to avoid any public encouragement of alcohol consumption? Conspiracy theorists, feel free to theorize. In the meantime, take a look at the company?s ?official? take on what the lines on the cups actually mean (click here to see it larger).
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[h=4]BuzzFeed[/h][h=3]4 Whiskey Cocktails You Should Try This Summer[/h]Because you've got to cool down somehow!
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Here?s why it?s so iconic ? including a secret that you may not know.
From Party Cup Into History
Although the Solo Cup Company has been making paper cups since 1936, it wasn?t until the 1970s ? the decade of Animal House andDazed and Confused ? that the plastic version was first released and immediately adored by collegians, campers, and backyard burger-flippers alike.
Officially called the Party Cup, it was originally introduced in four sizes and four colors, but it?s the red 18-ounce version that?s risen to iconic status. The company is tight-lipped about its sales figures, but recent reports attest that red outsells blue by a vast margin (more than half of Solo?s overall party cup sales) ? and most speculate that the gender-neutral hue is a big part of its runaway appeal.
<figure data-reactid=".0.$cover-mosaic-transition-group.$=1$cover-mosaic-0:0.$article-123463574809.0:$Pos-r.$article-inner-container.$inset-container.$grid-template.0.$col-left.$content.$grid-content.0.1.1.$text-body.0.0.$figure-12" style="margin: 0px;">
And here?s something you might not know about the party staple: it?s not just a place to pour your drink, it?s a place tomeasure your drink too!
Yep, the lines on the classic cup design aren?t just for aesthetics or grippiness ? in an act of kismet, they correspond to common fluid-ounce measurements. Starting from the bottom up, they mark one ounce (a perfect shot of bourbon for your Boulevardier or gin for your Negroni); five ounces (a standard wine pour); 12 ounces (a typical can of soda or beer); 16 ounces (aka a pint); and the final 18-ounce mark for any overflow from ice.
These seem too coincidental to not be by design, but Dart Container Corporation, Solo Cup?s present owner, responded to a recent Gizmodo piece and disavowed any intentional correlation between the design and these standard measurements.
It does seem awfully coincidental however; perhaps the corporate line is to avoid any public encouragement of alcohol consumption? Conspiracy theorists, feel free to theorize. In the meantime, take a look at the company?s ?official? take on what the lines on the cups actually mean (click here to see it larger).
<figure data-reactid=".0.$cover-mosaic-transition-group.$=1$cover-mosaic-0:0.$article-123463574809.0:$Pos-r.$article-inner-container.$inset-container.$grid-template.0.$col-left.$content.$grid-content.0.1.1.$text-body.0.2.$figure-3" style="margin: 0px;">
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