Leslie Buck, who designed the ‘Anthora’ — the iconic Greek paper coffee cup that’s been a Manhattan favorite for 45 years — has died at age 87.
The Magic Moment happened in the mid-1960s, when Buck was the sales manager for the paper company Sherri:
Sherri was keen to crack New York’s hot-cup market. Since many of the
city’s diners were owned by Greeks, Mr. Buck hit on the idea of a
Classical cup in the colors of the Greek flag. Though he had no formal
training in art, he executed the design himself. It was an instant
success.Mr. Buck made no royalties from the cup, but he did so well in sales
commissions that it hardly mattered, his son said. On his retirement from Sherri in 1992, the company presented Mr. Buck with 10,000
specially made Anthoras, printed with a testimonial inscription.
Nice story. In the cup’s heyday, the company sold 500 million a year.