Cups & Lids

Who invented disposable cups?

The first disposable paper cup was invented as a single-use disposable solution to the spreading of infection from communal cups at public water fountains, by Boston, Massachusetts' lawyer and inventor Lawrence Luellen in 1907. He first called the cone-shaped paper cups "Health Kups" which was later changed on March 23rd 1912 to the "Dixie Cup", named after a range of dolls made by The Dixie Doll Company of New York.

Luellen invented the disposable paper cup in direct response to health scares linked to diseases and germs being spread from shared water cups usually made of metal or wood called "Dippers", which were used at communal water fountains and water barrels in America. The American Temperance Movement which began in 1784 and rapidly expanded during the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century advocated the abstinence of alcohol which they blamed for creating many of American society's ills with the establishment of public water fountains throughout America to discourage the consumption of alcohol.

The Temperance movement would often travel from bar to bar around towns and cities in America with fresh drinking water on horse-drawn wagons to discourage the use of alcohol and this is where the saying," on the barrel" comes from to describe reformed alcoholics. Without realising that by encouraging people to consume fresh drinking water from communal cups at public water fountains the Temperance Movement had inadvertently begun to risk the health of the American population by the spreading of germs, such as TB, from these drinking cups. Ironically communal drinking cups which were also used with the consumption of alcohol posed no threat to the public health because the alcohol killed the germs.

After the First World War, in 1918, the worldwide pandemic of Spanish Flu killed over 500 million people and the prevention of spreading of germs and viruses became of paramount importance and cemented the use of disposable cups.

Disposable lids to seal the paper cup's contents were first invented during the 1950s when a number of cup lid patents were filed. In 1964, the "7-Eleven" Long Island New York convenience store lauched their first "coffee to go" service and in 1967 American Alan Frank filed a patent for a tearable coffee cup lid that was required for this service.

Today, environmental concerns have become the number 1 issue regarding paper disposable cups with their waste impact on the environment and their ability to be 100% recycled. America currently consumes roughly 110 billion disposable cups per annum.

What is the different Type of cups and lids?

Discount Coffee supplies a wide variety of cups and lids in the UK online. Paper cups of various sizes from our most popular 8oz paper cups to the largest 18oz paper cup. Our 4oz paper cups are also available for small espresso coffees and all the paper cups are available in a number of different designs or simply plain white, brown or plain black. Discount Coffee wholesales ripple cups for better insulation and our 12oz double-walled paper cups are a big hit with our online coffee shop customers. Kraft brown paper cups are very popular with our online cafe bar clients because of their natural look and great insulation qualities. 100% biodegradable and environmentally friendly paper cups are becoming big sellers with our UK customers looking to protect the environment. A range of plastic lids is also available for our paper cups online including domed lids to accommodate the foam milk topping of cappuccinos.

Dart polystyrene foam cups which were first invented in the 1960s and were a huge success because they were extremely light with the added advantage of maintaining the heat of any hot liquid contents without burning the customer's hands.Discount Coffee supplies online 7oz, 10oz and 12oz polystyrene cups to our UK customers for holding coffee and tea plus soups. Plastic lids are also available to fit these polystyrene disposable cups.

7oz clear plastic Water cups are also very popular with Discount Coffee's office and health spa customer s where they have water coolers and fountains.

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