When I tell a new acquaintance that I have been collecting paper cups for over fifteen years, I am met with a look of astonishment .
"Why would a gentleman of your class consider such a foolish enterprise?!"
My response is that as a historian ( and a connoisseur of fine coffee,) I am aware of the vagaries of human nature as well as our tendency to dispose of objects we do to value.
My first cup was a McDonald's 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games coffee cup.
As I was about to dump in in the trash, I realized that in a matter of days these cups will no longer be produced, and that this item may be of some historical value, even if marginal.
The idea of starting a collection was conceived at that moment on Harvard st. in Brookline, MA .
From then, and for a number of years thereafter, ( until I ran out of storage room in my humble apartment, ) I continued to seek and receive many cups from different cities around the world. I am grateful to my colleagues and students at university who have supplied me with some of the most interesting cups.
