The History of Dixie Cups

In 1907, Lawrence Luellen of Boston, Massachusetts invented a paper cup. It was intended to help stop the spread of germs (at the time, free water was often offered in communal “tin dippers” at public buildings and railway stations). Luellen joined Hugh Moore’s American Water Supply Company and the two began dispensing water in Luellen’s individual cups for 1 cent per 5-ounce cup. They started a new company, the Individual Drinking Cup Company of New York, and renamed their product the Health Kup. However, faced with competition from other manufacturers, they realized they needed a better name, so Moore asked the Dixie Doll Company of New York if they could use theirs, and the Dixie Cup was born! After the 1918 pandemic hit, the demand for safe drinking cups increased. In 1921, Luellen and Moore released a line of Dixie paper cups for home use. In 1923, they released the first individually packaged Dixie ice cream cups. In the 1920s, the company sponsored a radio show called Dixie Circus; pictures of the various animals were printed under the lids of Dixie ice cream cups for kids to collect. In the late 1940s, Dixie began to produce food containers for restaurants and lunch counters and in 1952, the company rolled out a line of cups made especially for holding alcoholic beverages. The company also expanded into making paper plates and in 1997, they added disposable coffee cups to their line. Today, Dixie cups and related products remain popular and are used in homes, restaurants, dental practices, and more.