Birth of an Icon.

In the early 1960s, New York City's coffee culture was dominated by diners – many of them owned and operated by Greek immigrants.  Roughly 350,000 Greeks had immigrated to the U.S. between 1900 and 1920, and their influence on diner culture was unmistakable.  Leslie Buck, a Czech immigrant and marketing director at the Sherri Cup Company, recognized this connection. Wanting to honor that heritage and appeal to Greek diner owners, he designed a paper coffee cup that felt like home.

Buck had no formal art training, but that didn’t stop him.  Drawing inspiration from ancient Greek motifs, he created a cup in bold blue and white – the colors of the Greek flag.  He framed it with a classic “meander” pattern, a geometric border found on centuries-old pottery, and added images of two amphoras, the traditional vessels used in Greece to carry wine or oil. 

The cup’s name, “Anthora,” came from Buck’s own accented pronunciation of amphora.  And emblazoned across its face in stylized, Greek-inspired lettering were the now-famous words: “We Are Happy To Serve You.”  It was an instant success – proudly nostalgic, universally friendly, and destined to become a New York icon.