Vintage Cups, Glasses and Mugs

In our blogs, we’ve been featuring a different promotional or corporate restaurantware product made over the years. This is another in the group of cool retro cups, glasses or mugs from our large collection. Here we’ll be sharing what we’ve learned about it and we welcome your additional input and comments.

This is a paper cup from Manners Big Boy. The Big Boy franchise is one of many that sprung from the hugely successful Bob’s Big Boy restaurant begun in 1936 in Glendale, California. The concept expanded into a chain with locations across the country. Today there are seven states where you can still find a Big Boy restaurant.

The franchise called Manners Big Boy was located in Northeastern Ohio. The first location, near Cleveland, opened in 1939. It was the first California-type fastfood drive-in to appear in that area. They grew to more than 30 restaurants in Ohio, and had over 300 locations in countries other than the U.S. The Manners chain was purchased by Marriott in 1968.

This 6-ounce paper cup is called a “Handi-Handle Cup”. Mostly likely intended for small children, it has a handle built into it that lies flat until you pull it out to use it. This cup was manufactured by Sutherland Paper Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan and Santa Clara, California. In the 1950s the company became the KVP Sutherland Co., so this cup probably was made in the late 40s or early 50s. The pastel color is very reflective of the style of that time.

A Big Bob’s Big Boy

We were always on the lookout for unrestored fiberglass Bob’s Big Boy statues when we where in the restoration business. So when we were offered one at a good price about seven years ago, we said “Sure, we’ll take it”. But when the truck showed up with the delivery, it was a bit of a surprise. It seems the guy who was working for me at the time didn’t think to ask how big it was when buying it. In all fairness to him, we did not know there was a larger version of good old Bob. The two we had restored to that point were about eight feet tall, but this one was north of fourteen feet. He was so big I think they had to cut off the hamburger to ship him. In any case, we never restored him. It was just too much work. Someone ended up buying him unrestored and I am sure he is still out there smiling away somewhere.

This item is not for sale. We show restored items in this blog to encourage discussion, prompt questions and further the hobby of collecting and restoration. We also enjoy sharing the photos of the many items we have restored over the years.