1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so 3 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Let's hear it for our super producer, 4 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: mister Max Party America Premium Williams. 5 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 2: I don't understand, but I couldn't get at. I can't retard. 6 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: Max says, that's none other than the legendary mister Noel Brown. 7 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 2: In his mind. 8 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, they call me, Ben Bullen, your legendary in 9 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: my mind as well and my heart. Oh my gosh, 10 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: Hey guys, when's the last time you had a solo 11 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: cup by myself? Ah, that's a great question, nol. But 12 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: we're specifically talking about those plastic red cups. Yeahs, you 13 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: know it's funny, Ben, it's been a minute. 14 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 2: I don't really see those pop up as much. But 15 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 2: you know what I always think of, and I'm not 16 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 2: a fan of modern country and Western music, red solo cup. 17 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 2: I feel you up, Let's have a party. It became 18 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 2: a bit of a like a pop cultural touchstone for 19 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 2: the redneck class in any pejorative sense. I think they 20 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 2: would gladly accept that term in the country music world 21 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 2: and embrace it. 22 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: And I will argue that Toby Keith is somewhat of 23 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: a bankrupt artist. 24 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 2: Is that who does that song? Yes? 25 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: Uh, it is the guy who does that song. It 26 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: will share more of the lyrics as well. The Internet 27 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: calls it a novelty country song. Yes and uh. Mister 28 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: Keith himself, also in an interview, called it the worst 29 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: song he had ever heard. 30 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it reminds me of a well it's funny. 31 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 2: At least he owns it. 32 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: It reminds me of a song about the Zach brown 33 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: Man that goes just a little chicken fry, cold b 34 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: are on a Friday night, a pair of pants. 35 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 2: The fits just right. It also, Yeah, I agree with you. 36 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 1: It feels very American such that it reminds me of 37 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: the Alan Jackson song where they're like way down yonder 38 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: on the chat hooch. Never knew how much I've went to. 39 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 2: Is that that muddy water? How much that much muddy 40 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 2: waters to me? But I learned how to swim, and 41 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 2: I learned what a lot about living in a little bit. 42 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 2: What the second thing you learned how to do? The swim? 43 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 2: He learned. 44 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: I learned how to swim, and I learned who I 45 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: was who I was living in a little bit. 46 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 2: See, I was picturing its sort of like the mud 47 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 2: skipper emerging from the water and swimming and then immediately 48 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 2: sprouting legs, evolutionarily speaking down on the chattahoots. 49 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: So if you are so Pardner, are very specific references here, folks. 50 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: This is not just for our American ridiculous historians in 51 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: the crowd. Yeah, hey, right on, brother, But if you 52 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: are from the United States or have spent some time 53 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: in this country, you are going to recognize this bad boy, 54 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: the humble red solo cup instantly. They're at cookouts, there 55 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: are picnics, there are house parties, they're at college campuses. 56 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: Noll Backwen, our pal Max used to work at the hospitality, 57 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: beverage entertainment industry. You would give people plastic cups if 58 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: you knew they would break a glass. 59 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 3: We actually had all of our rocks glasses for a 60 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 3: very very very long time. We're just plastic rocks glasses. 61 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 3: It's a very large concerned effort to actually switch them 62 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 3: to real glass like many years later. But we also 63 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 3: were known for being a place that would involve some 64 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 3: fights and a little bit of vomit. 65 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, you learn who you was. Yeah, a little vomit. 66 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: Ben. 67 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 2: By the way, research associated shortened air on this particular topic. 68 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,799 Speaker 2: I grew up in the shadow of a Dixie cup 69 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 2: factory in my hometown of Augusta, Georgia, where the building, 70 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 2: the facade of the building looks like a giant cup. 71 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 2: Amazing phenomenal. Yeah, and I think there's Dixie down in Dixie. 72 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 2: Dixie plays into this, Yes. 73 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: Very much so, Noel, you're correct. The solo cup that 74 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: you are going to see in film and fiction and 75 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: television shows today, it's ubiquitous, it's cheap, disposable, it's pretty 76 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: bad for the environment. It is super convenient. It's one 77 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: of those inventions we take for granted. I remember a 78 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: few episodes ago we were talking about how we all 79 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: took cups for granted. But we have to remember that 80 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: somebody at some point in history looked at water and said, 81 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: what if I could take this somewhere? 82 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 2: Oh, a vessel perhaps, right? Right? We were so appressed. 83 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 2: What if it didn't leak? Right? What if it was 84 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 2: not a sieve? 85 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 1: Why are we dedicating an entire episode to solo cups today? 86 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: It's because there is more to these cups that meets 87 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: the eye, the red Solo cup in particular, and it 88 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: is a brand name owned by a place called the 89 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: Dark Corporation. Now it has become this ambassador for American culture. 90 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: It's celebrated or venerated. If we want to use that 91 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: word across the planet. How do we get there? We 92 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: got to start at the beginning. You absolutely nailed it. 93 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 2: Null. It really starts with Dixie cups. So to your point, 94 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 2: Ben about you know, glassware versus disposable cups. It takes 95 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 2: for granted that there was a time where disposable cups 96 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 2: just weren't a thing, dude, not even individual cups. Maybe 97 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 2: at the dentist, you know, where you'd spit into something, 98 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 2: or like those tiny cups you'd see at the water cooler, 99 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 2: but it wasn't as much of an ubiquitous thing. At barbecues, 100 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 2: people would have like plastic, stacky reusable cups or glassware. 101 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 2: Way before this man. 102 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: This is one of the first ridiculous facts of the 103 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: day of this episode. Individual cups, folks, were not always 104 00:06:54,920 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: a thing. It wasn't until the early twentieth century that 105 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: people in the United States figured out cups for yourselves. Uh, 106 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: it was common it was commonplace for the public to 107 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: use communal cups. They called them ten dippers. So instead 108 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: of a water fountain at your railway station or a 109 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: public building, there would be a barrel of standing water 110 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: and there would be a little ten thing that looks 111 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: like kind of a ladle exactly. 112 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 2: I've certainly seen that depicted in I want to say 113 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 2: dead would those kinds of shows, but yeah, I mean 114 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 2: you would literally just scoop yourself up a swig and 115 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 2: guzzle it down. It's a lot like what does perpetual stew? 116 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: Yes, Oh, distressingly so, man, because this was a pool 117 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: for all the germs. It was before the invention of 118 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: the water fountains you will see in schools and hospitals today, 119 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: which people still call dirty. This stuff, this communal idea 120 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: was cheap to manufacture, but it was a disaster for 121 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: public health because think about it, all it takes is 122 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: one thirsty guy with a communicable disease to. 123 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 2: Hit that little tin dipper, and their mouths are gross, 124 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 2: even the circumstances reminkable diseases assigned. Yeah, all it. 125 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: Took was one thirsty person and everybody after that person 126 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: who hit up that communal tin dipper was going to 127 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:36,319 Speaker 1: be exposed to all sorts of nasty conditions. The buffins 128 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: of the day, like the biologists, the public health folks, 129 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: they embraced what we know as germ theory. By the 130 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties they said, yeah, this is real. The things 131 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: that are too small for your eye to see can 132 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: transmit between you. They can kill you. Microscopic organisms, bacteria, virus, 133 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: but similar to the covid pandemic which continues today. Most 134 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: Americans in the late eighteen hundreds, early nineteen hundreds, they 135 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: still fought against the idea. They were like, who are 136 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: these nerds? If I can't see it, if I can't 137 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: smell it, why would it make me sick? 138 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 2: Get out of here, pencil neck egghead? Get out of here. 139 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: And this is where we have on to the stage 140 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: of history. Strolling two brothers in law, Lawrence Llewellyn and 141 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: Hugh Moore that's his real name. I have to note 142 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: this because you know I love a dumb joke, nol 143 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: Hugh Hugh Moore Moore, But Hugh Moore, that's his real name. 144 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 2: Was he a funny guy? Do you think? I hope 145 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 2: so it was a fun guy. I hope so. 146 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: Was his brother in law. Lawrence was a lawyer in Boston, 147 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: and one of Lawrence's clients was this physician. And this 148 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: physician came up and asked the same thing that you 149 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: were talking about earlier. He said, Look, I got a 150 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: lot of tuberculosis patients. I need easily disposable cups so 151 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: I can test their fluids or spoot them. 152 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 2: Jesus, yeah, man spewed them. That's sort of like the 153 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 2: froth that is ejected from one's lips when speaking a 154 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 2: little too robustly. Yeah, taker, shout out to Doc Holiday. Right. 155 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,319 Speaker 1: So our buddy, who is again an attorney in Boston, 156 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: he creates this small, pleated, wax coded paper cup, and 157 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: then he further comes up with this idea of or cups, 158 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: up with this idea of a vending machine. Right, so 159 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: you put a penny in this awkward looking porcelain device, 160 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 1: it will dispense a cup made of wax coded paper 161 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:03,719 Speaker 1: filled with cold water. This is the ancestor of the 162 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: modern dixie cup. 163 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I don't. And again, those little mouthwashed cups, 164 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 2: the little dentist cups that we remember from our childhood, 165 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 2: wax coated I remember that distinct tactile sensation of a 166 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,439 Speaker 2: waxy cup. I even remember scratching on him, making little 167 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 2: etchings or whatever. It doesn't seem like those are nearly 168 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 2: as popular anymore. You don't see the waxy cups as much. 169 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 2: Maybe in a water cooler, but even nowadays you see 170 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 2: more little plastic ridged cups in the water dispenser in 171 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 2: an officer like a waiting room. 172 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: Yeah and okay, so this guy's brother in law, Hugh 173 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 1: Moore never not funny name. Sorry about history there, Bud, 174 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: but he was. This guy is a pretty smart dude. 175 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: He had actually moved into the neighborhood in Boston to 176 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: go to Harvard, but as soon as he learned about 177 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: this cup idea, he dropped out of one of the 178 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,479 Speaker 1: best schools in the nation to help with this business, 179 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: and he got into politics. He joined the progressive movement 180 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: at the time to abolish ten dippers. 181 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,439 Speaker 2: What a cost. I think we can all support that. No, 182 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 2: no more ten dippers. It's fun to stillboards, share cups. 183 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 2: But also little self interested right, I mean absolutely was 184 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 2: he was lobbying. Yes, I mean he had a business 185 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 2: plan that would directly benefit from the abolition of the 186 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 2: ten dipper and it also happened to align with the 187 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:35,719 Speaker 2: greater good. 188 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: Yes, happened to is the perfect phrase. It's nineteen oh 189 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:44,559 Speaker 1: eight and the brothers in law they incorporate something they 190 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: call the American Water Supply Company of New England, and 191 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: their whole business is creating, installing, and servicing these vending 192 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: machines that will give you a paper cup of water 193 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: for one penny. 194 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 2: One single penny. Writing for Canals, historian Martha Capwell Fox 195 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 2: put it this way. The same year, a Lafayette College 196 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 2: biology professor Alvin Davison published Death in School Drinking Cups 197 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:18,239 Speaker 2: The Lurid. The title was understated compared to the results 198 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,719 Speaker 2: of his study of illness and Eastern school children as 199 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 2: a result of common cup hyphenated contamination CCC. Yeah, yeah, 200 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 2: she goes on paraphrasing here. He found, Davison that classroom 201 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 2: cups were absolutely riddled, as you like to say, ben 202 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 2: with germs, causing everything from colds and flus to more 203 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 2: serious conditions that didn't even have vaccinations. I believe at 204 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 2: the time, things like chicken pox and diphtheria. I mean, 205 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 2: we already know that schools, especially elementary and middle are 206 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 2: already breeding grounds for these kinds of illnesses, let alone 207 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 2: introducing shared you know, spit troughs into the. 208 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, he reminds me of how every year, without fail, 209 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: one of my friend's children will get hoof and mouth disease, 210 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: foot and mouth disease. 211 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 2: Like, why is that a thing? This guy that we're. 212 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 3: Mouth humans, but foot foot mouth definitely is. 213 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 2: That's the one we're looking for. 214 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 3: And the real name of it is cocksacky virus. 215 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 2: Phones bags And he dropped in the knowledge. 216 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: It's just for you. 217 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 2: So good there we go, all right, what's your mouth? Right? 218 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: So most children, human children do not have hoofs. We 219 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: have confirmed it here for the first time. This guy, 220 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: this professor Alvin Davidson, found that, look, there is a problem. 221 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: He went to various public health institutions, various political outfits, 222 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: and said, you know what's really smart, This guy Llewellyn 223 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: has invented a vending machine with disposable paper cups. And 224 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: so state after state begins passing laws that ban those 225 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: shared cups, those tin dippers, and railroads start saying, hey, 226 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: if we want to look fancy, we're going to put 227 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: something like this in our passenger cars. We'll have a 228 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: closed tank of water in each car. These guys are 229 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: blowing up, dude. This is like, this is like when 230 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 1: podcasts became a thing. It's nineteen oh nine. The guys 231 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: have to move past Boston. They move their operation to 232 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: New York City, where they eventually get New York City. 233 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 2: But also the most clever name for any company ever, 234 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 2: I have to say, the Individual Drinking Cup Company. That's 235 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 2: almost as good as the company the Individual Drinking Cup 236 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 2: Company of New York's. Yea, we needed to know where 237 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 2: they were headquartered. 238 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: Right, They had to put it in the name, apparently, 239 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: and their business skyrockets. A few years later, they're selling 240 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: something they're calling the health Cup with a K, and 241 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: they make a lot of money during the influenza epidemic 242 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighteen. But they're still not called Dixie cups. 243 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: So riddle us this know. How did they become called 244 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: Dixie cups? 245 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 2: It's kind of weird, man. I didn't know this at all, 246 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 2: but mister Moore had the idea that the term Dixie 247 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 2: might be a positive association to make with the cup 248 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 2: because of the Civil War and the Dixie dollar. It 249 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 2: was a type of yeah currency that was used. They 250 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 2: called it the what is it the French French dix 251 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 2: yayya French word for ted uh huh okay. I wish 252 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 2: I was in Dixie. Hooray, hooray Dixie l I don't 253 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 2: know about all that, guys, but at the time it 254 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,919 Speaker 2: seemed like it was gonna hit. But unfortunately there was 255 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 2: already a doll company. Yeah, that's right, like dolls, like 256 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 2: like QB Dolls, but you know, not that brand that 257 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 2: bore the name Dixie, the Dixie Doll Company, of course. 258 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 2: And so he asked the doll maker laureate there if 259 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 2: he could borrow the business name Dixie and use it 260 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 2: as a marketing tool, because he figured that adding that 261 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 2: very popular and zeitgeisty name word to it was going 262 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 2: to convey a sense of reliability, kind of finding because 263 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,439 Speaker 2: no one only no one really talks about the Dixie 264 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 2: Buck anymore. But I guess at the time it was 265 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,359 Speaker 2: it made sense. It would read as like, oh, this 266 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 2: is an old trustee that's gonna get us through the 267 00:17:59,040 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 2: hard times. 268 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: It's kind of like naming your disposable cup old reliable. 269 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:06,959 Speaker 2: Because just so they should put that in the name 270 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 2: of the company. 271 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: They should have Maybe they didn't they didn't have the 272 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:12,159 Speaker 1: space to print it. 273 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:18,160 Speaker 2: The old reliable Dixie Cup Company of New York. Oh wow, perfect. 274 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, the French issued a currency in Louisiana, or was 275 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: French language prior to the Civil War. So it's a 276 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: weird thing for our buddy Hugh Moore to seek out. 277 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,239 Speaker 1: It is out of the box thinking. This is just 278 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: what the company needed. Their reputation as a dixie cup 279 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: grows over time, and they get this huge boost when 280 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: soda fountains throughout the United States introduce their own vending machines, 281 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: kind of automatic machines that can fill a cup with 282 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: two flavors of ice cream at. 283 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 2: The same time. Nice. Nice, right forward to the future, 284 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 2: sure a girl. 285 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, just so, we're not at Neapolitan just yet. 286 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,160 Speaker 2: But we're on the way. This is also quite soft serve, 287 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 2: it's not. I believe you're correct. You know, we should 288 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 2: do we should do a history of soft serve because 289 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 2: there's a lot of interesting technology and cultural significance in 290 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 2: soft serve. You know that really popular thing in Japan. 291 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,680 Speaker 2: There's like a whole milk based soft serve. The people 292 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 2: are screaming about it finally made its way over here. 293 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 2: I would love to know about all of those things. 294 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 2: We should do it. 295 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: That's an excellent idea, Nol. We also know that there 296 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: was a new kind of cup that came along with 297 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 1: all these new ice cream machines. It is called the 298 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: ice cream Dixie. It's still the same cup, and the 299 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,680 Speaker 1: Dixie brand is around today. But this is not answering 300 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: our question about the solo cups. So while the Dixie company, 301 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: or while this paper cup manufact company is blowing up, 302 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: there is a guy who works there named Leo Holsman. 303 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,360 Speaker 1: It's yeah, yeah, this is our solo cup guy. By 304 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: the way, Ben, there's apparently even a historical debate on 305 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,439 Speaker 1: who invented soft serve, So we've got to do it. 306 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 2: We have to. There's a lot of science behind it. Sorry, 307 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 2: just putting that out there. It's between Tom Carvel and 308 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 2: Dairy Queen, the big beef, the soft served beef. So 309 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 2: we'll get to that in a future episode. Feels real 310 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 2: pepsi versus coke, It really does. So, as you said, Ben, 311 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 2: we've got Leo Holtzman Hoolsman entering the Chat nineteen thirty six. 312 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 2: He ventured out on his own and founded another brilliantly 313 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 2: descriptively named paper container Manufacturing Company, not of Chicago. It 314 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 2: wasn't in the name, but it was in Chicago. And 315 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 2: by this point a lot of folks were trying to 316 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 2: get into the old paper cup game. There was a 317 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 2: boom time for the big cup. Yeah again like podcast. 318 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: During the pandemic, public opinion grew increasingly on board with 319 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: germ theory. Paper cups are a huge business, and their 320 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 1: business is often supported by the medical community and politicians. 321 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: So what we're saying here is if there was ever 322 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: a tin dipper communal cup lobby, they were done for 323 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: at this point. Holsman's the paper container Manufacturing Company. Again, 324 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: weird name. I agree with you. There they created a 325 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,479 Speaker 1: signature item. It was not read, it was not round. 326 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: It was a cone, so very familiar to the kind 327 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: of cone paper you might see it a dentist office. 328 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 2: Right. That's right, Then you really nailed it, because I 329 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 2: wasn't even hearkening back that far. But that's certainly you're 330 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 2: triggering a core memory from me because the earlier days 331 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 2: were a come. But problem there is you can't set 332 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 2: a cone. 333 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 1: Down, no, just throw it away, right, It's a paper 334 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: cone for a limited time. 335 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 2: It was Aldso that's kind of a feature, not a bug, 336 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 2: isn't it. You don't want people setting them down. You 337 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 2: want them drinking it once and then tossing it because 338 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 2: it was a built in safeguard from maybe somebody accidentally 339 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 2: sharing it. 340 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, because you can't put it on the table. God forbid, 341 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,959 Speaker 1: there'd be some sketchy dude who rocks up and sees 342 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: a sees a paper cup of unidentified liquid and says, 343 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: is that tuberculosis? 344 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 2: Spit mary over right? But you know it's funny. Then 345 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 2: those paper cones did still get some use at places 346 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 2: like diners who invented these little little cone holder things. 347 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 2: So you'd have a cone full of say French fries 348 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 2: or even a moll and it would be in one 349 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 2: of these paper cones, and then the cone would go 350 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 2: in these weird little little uh what do you call 351 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 2: it caddies kind of you know, okay, yeah, kind of 352 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 2: defeats the purpose a little bit. Yeah, that's maybe that's 353 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 2: discussion for another. It's a good way to serve fries. 354 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 1: Also, we have to emphasize that these little guys, these 355 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 1: cone cups, they were called solo cups first, meaning cups 356 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: you don't have to share with strangers, just for you, 357 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: just for you. 358 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 2: This Solo cups, Solo Dolo and Solo You. 359 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: And so Solo went on to make other innovations. They 360 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: made disposable coffee cups. They made the cups that you 361 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:35,479 Speaker 1: will see in movie theaters, fast food restaurants. So if 362 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: you go to a theater and you get a medium soda, 363 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,119 Speaker 1: or you go to a fast food place and you 364 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: order a drink with your combo meal, you'll see that 365 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: the inner and outer lining is wax. That's the Solo cup. 366 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 2: Guys. They're the ones who figured that out. But it 367 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 2: wasn't until the nineteen seventies that Leo's son, Robert Leo Hoolseman, 368 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 2: decided to do a little bit of rebranding because you know, 369 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 2: when we think of the Solo cup, we always think 370 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 2: of the quintessentially fire engine red version. Kim Healy, who 371 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 2: is the VP of Consumer Business for Solo in twenty eleven, 372 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 2: actually admits that the history might be considered a little 373 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 2: bit sketchy, a little bit of a gray area. However, 374 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 2: the company does maintain we know we were one of 375 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 2: the first to introduce a party cup, so making it right, 376 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 2: was just making it fun. It's a fun cup, a 377 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 2: party cup that sounds so crazy. I have a party. 378 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: We've been in a lot of situations, folks, the three 379 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: of us over the years, and we have walked into 380 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: places where someone says, oh, do you have your badge, 381 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 1: do you have your bracelet or whatever, here's your party cup. 382 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 2: We've been in those situations. 383 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:53,960 Speaker 1: Well. 384 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 2: The funny thing about these these cups as well, Ben, 385 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 2: is they're practically I mean, are you not supposed to 386 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 2: dishwash them? I feel like they're not gonna melt if 387 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 2: they're top dishwasher top top exactly. They're top rack. 388 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: So I mean, it's sort of like they're becoming less 389 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: disposable at this point, but it's more a product of 390 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,680 Speaker 1: consumerism that they're still considered disposable. 391 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 2: It's interesting. It's just sort of a cheap plastic cup 392 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 2: that is fun looking, right. 393 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: Steve Stevenson, writing for Slate back in twenty eleven, describes 394 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: it as the Sherman Tank of disposable mealware. It is 395 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: made of a thick, molded, specific type of polystyrene, and 396 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 1: it gets uh, let's just. 397 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,640 Speaker 2: Give you the pack. Oh he's good. This is good writing. 398 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: Okay, so he says, quote, the Sulu party cup could 399 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: be squeezed in meadi frat guy pauls it could be 400 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: dropped to the ground by tipsy high school cheerleaders and 401 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 1: mercilessly battered by flip cup contestants all the wild, maintaining 402 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: shape and functionality. It was stiffer and more resilient than 403 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 1: competitor party cups like Dixies. 404 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 2: Just squeeze it. 405 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: Throw it, drop it, flip it, bop it, et cetera. 406 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 1: The Solo cup. 407 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 2: And it's so funny because it's just as simple as 408 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,439 Speaker 2: like making a cup a color that was innovation at 409 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 2: the time. What if what if they were a color? Right? 410 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 2: And then he's got to pick one, and they went 411 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 2: with red, and Solo company representatives told Slay that the 412 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 2: red cups make up about sixty percent of Solo Party 413 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,959 Speaker 2: cup sales to this day, with the distantly second blue 414 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 2: cups as the runner up. Right. Yeah, And they've tested 415 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 2: over and over again, no matter what colors or designs 416 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 2: they try, it just seems like the red Solo cup 417 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 2: just really stuck. That's the thing. 418 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you can see blue cups, as you said, 419 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: yellow cups I've seen some green ones in the same design. 420 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: Maybe why red. Maybe it's because it is the expected color. 421 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: At this point, I was people are creatures of habit 422 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: right and tradition and legacy. So maybe, for example, we 423 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: could imagine how off putting it would be to walk 424 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,639 Speaker 1: through your favorite store and you see your usual can 425 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: of Coca cola but it's blue, or you see your 426 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: usual can of pepsi but it's red. You know you 427 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: you wouldn't trust it. 428 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 2: No, No, that's why I like. I mean, sometimes brand 429 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 2: recognition is more important than the quality of the product 430 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 2: quite often. 431 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: Actually, there's also this color theory argument. We've talked about 432 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: this a little bit in the past. The argument of 433 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: color theory proposes that there are certain hues or certain 434 00:27:54,680 --> 00:28:01,719 Speaker 1: colors that incite immediate primal reactions and human psychology. So 435 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:06,159 Speaker 1: red in color theory would signify the ideas of things 436 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: like high energy or passion or emotional and redsity yes, 437 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: seeing red, yeah, And blue is more tranquility and depth 438 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: or consideration or thought. And I believe they say that 439 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:24,479 Speaker 1: yellow it makes you hungry. So combining red for that 440 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: excitement and yellow for hunger makes a whole lot of 441 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: sense for the golden arches. 442 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,120 Speaker 2: You know. That's a great point. Yeah. 443 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,399 Speaker 1: And also yellow in large amounts can apparently make people 444 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: panic a little. So that's why you always felt weird 445 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: in a yellow kitchen, folks. Apollo gets it, Pile gets it. 446 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: So perhaps if color theory holds, a red colored cup 447 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: just feels psychologically somehow more correct for your next frat rager. 448 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 2: You know what I mean. It's the associations, man, And 449 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 2: I mean like when I think of beer pong, which 450 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 2: I've never in my life participated in, I think of 451 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 2: red solo cups, and they even sell little small versions 452 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 2: that are specifically for like shots or for those kind 453 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 2: of games. 454 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: We both spent a lot of time in Athens, Georgia. 455 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 2: And you know what's funny. I never went to fraternity. 456 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 2: I was never in a college that had fraternities. I 457 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 2: never went to frat parties when I was actually of 458 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 2: college age. But when I moved to Athens as a adult, 459 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 2: I had some younger friends who invited me to these 460 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 2: frat parties that I went to more a sociological experiments, 461 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 2: and man, red solo cups were everywhere. 462 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: Yes, Debri Gore, Yeah, solo keg cups. In particular, they 463 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: hold more liquid than competing cups. They have an eighteen 464 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: ounce flush fill. The company calls it as opposed to 465 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: the sixteen outs fill offered by their competitors. So let's 466 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: exercise empathy if we're a college kid with a perishing 467 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: third and not much in the way of cash. The 468 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 1: big cups maximize the amount of cheap beer you can 469 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: scarf at a single time, which is why they're at 470 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: every party and they're grippy, and they're grippy, you're pounding 471 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 1: it back for knocking them back, as they say. 472 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, they evolved. 473 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: Now the current cup model has four grips, one on 474 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: each side for indentations. 475 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 2: Which is funny though because they still, to the naked eye, 476 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 2: appear round. They're not like square cups. But they have 477 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 2: these edges. It's a pretty clever design, if I'm being honest. Yeah, 478 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 2: it's a very clever design. The earlier versions had ridges 479 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 2: that people made folklore about, like the red cup has 480 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 2: become folklore. The idea was you could measure liquid. You 481 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 2: could even if you needed to mix cocktails based on 482 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 2: the ridges. The horizontal ridges in the solo cup, and 483 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 2: there are some substance abuse educators that even say college 484 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 2: students should use the lines in the solo cup to 485 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 2: monitor how much alcohol they are ingesting. Pretty weird. Good 486 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 2: luck getting them to do that, right. 487 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: But this is not the end of the story. As 488 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: we tease, Nola, I think you did a beautiful job 489 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: in this. In particular, as we tease, the United States 490 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: is more than just home to the Solo cups. It's 491 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: also home to one of the world's largest, most successful 492 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: entertainment industries. It's been one of Uncle Sam's largest exports 493 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:51,479 Speaker 1: post World War Two, up there with the arms trade 494 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: and the defense industry. So if you are European or 495 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: Australia and South America, if you are heck, a person 496 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 1: from any but the United States, you will see so 497 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: many films and TV shows that feature red solo cups 498 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: at every party. This became more than a product, It 499 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 1: became a symbol. Like when I can't remember the last 500 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: time you were in Europe. The last time I was 501 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: in Europe, I did go to an American party. They 502 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: had solo cups as a themed prop, and weirdly a 503 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: lot of peanut butter. 504 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 2: You know, there's this arcade that I love to go 505 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 2: to called Round One that specializes in a lot of 506 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 2: kind of more obscure Japanese cabinet games and rhythm games. 507 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 2: And there is a Japanese game that is a beer 508 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 2: pong simulator that absolutely has read solo cups, but not 509 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 2: actually branded. It's just that's the look, because that is 510 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:53,120 Speaker 2: how they see us. 511 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: That's the folklore, you know. And it's weird because a 512 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: lot of people might travel to the US and look 513 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: for low cost souvenirs instead of partying and chucking the 514 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: cups in the trash the way so many people in 515 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: the States do. Folks in Europe wash them, put them 516 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: in the top rack of the dishwasher, and then reuse them. 517 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: This does not seem to be the result of a conspiracy, 518 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: does not seem to be the result of a backroom 519 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 1: deal or some crazy awesome Bernese level pr campaign. These 520 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: cups are cheap, handy, convenient, ubiquitous. Now they're thoroughly American. 521 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: We even mentioned at the top Toby Keith, who recorded 522 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: a weirdly addictive homage to the Red Solo Cup in 523 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: twenty eleven. So, now, for better or worse, this is 524 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: a piece of Americana. I don't know how it works 525 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: for everybody in this wide, beautiful country of ours, but 526 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: we do have to debunk one thing. The lines on 527 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: the cups. Man, I think they're plastic extrusion. And then 528 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 1: later the Solo Cup company went back and said, here 529 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,640 Speaker 1: will publish a guide to how to measure stuff. 530 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 2: But they do acknowledge that it was arbitrary and that 531 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 2: they were sort of just I kind of give them 532 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 2: props for this, you know, the point that you made 533 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 2: about how much liquor you should consume, how much wine 534 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:30,359 Speaker 2: or how much beer. They say, what you've seen in 535 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 2: this advertisements. The real understanding of lines on Solo cup 536 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 2: from the Solo company, not true or an original part 537 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 2: of Solo cup design, but surprisingly accurate. Yeah. 538 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: Yeah. They have a great breakdown of an old school 539 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: Solo cup, the one without the grips, but the one 540 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:54,840 Speaker 1: that does have the lines over the cup. They have 541 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: one picture that says, twelve ounces of beer. That's the 542 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:00,799 Speaker 1: help me out here. 543 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 2: In the third line down, there's a double line around 544 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,479 Speaker 2: the ridge and there's two big lines, so it would 545 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 2: be the second big line would be like, okay, that'd 546 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 2: be your fill line for around twelve ounces of beer. 547 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,879 Speaker 1: Okay, and then five ounces they have lower wine. They 548 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: have one ounce for liquor. But then they go to 549 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: the next picture and they have the same beer line 550 00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:27,200 Speaker 1: twelve ounces and they say this is the amount of 551 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: water you should drink five times a day, and then. 552 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,840 Speaker 2: Then five ounces for cereal standard serving of cereal, and 553 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 2: then one ounce. I love this because it's the same 554 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 2: as a shot of liquor. So you know, if you 555 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:40,400 Speaker 2: if you're out of liquor and you want to just 556 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 2: pound some mouthwash, the same amount h super christ, Wow, 557 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 2: a pretty solid amount of mouthwash each morning. Do not 558 00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 2: drink it. I was joking. 559 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:56,719 Speaker 1: And they also give you other things like five ounces 560 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,839 Speaker 1: a perfect amount of juice for kids. One out, this 561 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,479 Speaker 1: is how much chocolate syrup you need to make chocolate milk. Look, 562 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 1: these folks are selling. 563 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 2: Cups, no doubt that hard doing a fine job of it. 564 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, and we do know that obviously, this kind of 565 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:18,919 Speaker 1: mass production can be controversial because these cups are made 566 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: from number six thermoplastic polystyrene. It is multiple, it is ductile, 567 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 1: it's very cheap to make it, but it is also 568 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,319 Speaker 1: very difficult to recycle it. 569 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 2: And it's inside of all of our bodies. 570 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:38,960 Speaker 1: And all your bits, and these profits from the Solo Cup, 571 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: we're happy to report have helped make the world a 572 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:46,560 Speaker 1: better place in other ways. The guy you mentioned earlier, 573 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: Noel Hulsman Senior, was super big on philanthropy. He donated 574 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 1: a ton of his money to Catholic education, to anti 575 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,640 Speaker 1: poverty initiatives, and religious unities. 576 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 2: I don't know. 577 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,719 Speaker 1: I didn't know that you never played flip cup. Well, 578 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: I played the game at the arcade. 579 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 2: Ha. Yes, well, okay, good for anyone that doesn't know, though, Ben, 580 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:13,439 Speaker 2: Oh sorry, flip cups different. I played the beer pong 581 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,520 Speaker 2: simulator for anyone that doesn't know, myself included. I don't 582 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 2: think I know what flip cup is. 583 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 1: Flip cup is where you have to take a standing 584 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: cup and then flip it perfectly upside down. Oh, kind 585 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,319 Speaker 1: of like a bottle flip right, Yeah, just so on 586 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 1: a horizontal surface. 587 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 2: And at which point you're punished or rewarded by having 588 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:33,800 Speaker 2: to take a drink. 589 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 3: The beer and you put it down. You have to 590 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:36,359 Speaker 3: flip it. 591 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, and if you flinch, you have to marry your 592 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: mother in law. 593 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 2: Got it. Yeah, it's a it's a it's a reference too. 594 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 2: I think you should leave. We're a lot of fun 595 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 2: at parties. Next, how do we have a car with 596 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:52,440 Speaker 2: steering wheel? It doesn't fly off, fly out your hands 597 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 2: and you turn it. I don't know how goes look 598 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:57,240 Speaker 2: at me, admits it. 599 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 1: So thank you so much for tuning in, fellow ridiculous historians. 600 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:04,520 Speaker 1: We had a great time with this one. We hope 601 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:08,319 Speaker 1: you tune in as we continue to explore the ridiculous 602 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:12,239 Speaker 1: history of potatoes. Max, you've got some background on this 603 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: holp we do overall with red solo cups. 604 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,280 Speaker 3: You did them well, you served them well. 605 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,000 Speaker 2: I will say that they've served us well, you know. 606 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,399 Speaker 1: Big thanks to our super producer, mister Max Williams. Big 607 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 1: thanks to Alex Williams who composed this slap and bop. 608 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: Big thanks to everybody who is playing flip cup tonight 609 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:35,400 Speaker 1: right now? 610 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 2: Noel? Who else? Well, first of all, drink responsibly when 611 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:44,240 Speaker 2: playing flip cup or beer pong or you know, attending 612 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 2: frat parties. Gosh, who else? You know? Who we heard 613 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,040 Speaker 2: from today via email our buddy the puzzler A J. 614 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 2: Bahamas Jacobs. I think we're going to get him to 615 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:58,360 Speaker 2: come back around real soon. Jonathan Strickland aka the Quist 616 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:00,640 Speaker 2: who he did not hear from today. 617 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 1: And big thanks, of course to our returning friend of 618 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:09,640 Speaker 1: the show, Jordan run Todd. Check him out very soon. 619 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 1: We're gonna be getting weird with Elvis. Big thanks to 620 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:16,960 Speaker 1: the rude dudes over a ridiculous crime. If you dug 621 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:20,360 Speaker 1: our story about Dali and Rikers Island, you will. 622 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 2: Love these folks. 623 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:25,040 Speaker 1: So hie thee to a podcast platform of your choice 624 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:27,920 Speaker 1: check him out ed. You know what, I'll say it. 625 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,880 Speaker 1: We can prank them a little bit, Nola Max. Just 626 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:33,799 Speaker 1: write to them and challenge them to a game of 627 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:34,520 Speaker 1: flip cup. 628 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, and Ben, thanks to you for the research on 629 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:42,000 Speaker 2: this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh Man, same thanks. 630 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:51,839 Speaker 2: Heck yeah, We'll see you next time. Folks. For more 631 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,400 Speaker 2: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 632 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 2: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.