Designed in 1963

The iconic New York Greek Deli cup, now in CERAMIC

A classic, meaningful, functional gift for New-Yorkers, ex-New Yorkers, and those that missed the trip.

The "Anthora" paper cup designed in 1963 by Leslie Buck, features Greek motifs and two shields on which are written, "WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU". Millions of these cups had fed the caffeine addictions of New Yorkers during all those years. The sheer number of them coupled with their forty-year history has given the cup icon status along with the yellow taxis and the Statue of Liberty.

Graham Hill, as millions of other New Yorkers, has always loved the everyday design of this particular takeout paper cup, available at all city delis. Intrigued with how one might memorialize the most ephemeral of the New York icons, he developed a CERAMIC replica, incredibly similar to the paper version, rendering those disposable cups into permanent, useful objects.
Every City Needs a Symbol

The "We Are Happy To Serve You" Cup Story

In its coffee cup, New York has something that’s both genuinely unique and almost timeless. This humble coffee cup is one of the things that makes New York, New York.

When Greek immigrants arrived in New York in the early part of the last century, they brought their coffee culture along with them, giving birth to the city’s ubiquitous Greek diners and sidewalk pushcarts. In 1963, the Sherri Cup Company set out to produce a to-go coffee cup that would appeal to the Greek vendors. Marketing director Leslie Buck dreamed up a motif that included blue-and-white colors from the flag of Greece. His message, WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU, was printed in Greek-style letters, adorned with a trio of steaming, mustard-yellow cups, flanked by ancient “Anthora” urns, and framed with a Greek Key pattern. No one, before or since, has been able to capture, by accident or design, the city’s self-identity.

Currently, hundred of thousands of them are carried out of New York delis full of hot coffee! Due to the vast number of them, the length of time they have been around and New Yorkers' appreciation for their design, the cup has come to be a quintessential New York icon. It is very likely the world's most famous coffee cup!

For more info, here are some links:

We are happy to serve you!