Starbucks Cambridge mug: Discovery Series
The Cambridge mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets the name in yellow over a dark green circle, with row houses, a weeping willow, a duck and four rowers. A chalkboard, a trolley with readers and sailboats fill the other sides.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozstandard mug size
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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The Dunkirk rower who proposed a race on the Charles
According to Northeastern University's rowing alumni association, Ernest Arlett was trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk with half a million other soldiers. He commandeered a boat and rowed fellow soldiers out to waiting destroyers [2]. In 1962 Harvard named him its coach of sculling [3]. He proposed a "head of the river" race for the Charles, like the ones in his native England [4]. Three members of the Cambridge Boat Club, D'Arcy MacMahon, Howard McIntyre and Jack Vincent, took his advice, and the first Head of the Charles was held on October 16, 1965 [5]. A head race is not a sprint side by side. Boats start about fifteen seconds apart and race the clock [6]. Today more than 12,000 athletes row in 74 different events [7]. The four rowers along the bottom of the Cambridge mug (5) may be on the Charles.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1Lettering
CAMBRIDGE in yellow capitals over a dark green circle.
- 2Row houses
A row of tall, ornate houses with red, yellow and brown gables stands at the upper left, above a CENTRAL SQUARE sign.
- 3Weeping willow
A weeping willow with long yellow-orange branches arches over the top right of the circle.
- 4Duck
A large brown duck with raised wings stands at the lower right.
- 5Rowers
Four rowers in a long boat pull their oars along the bottom. Cambridge sits across the Charles River from Boston.[1]
- 6Chalkboard Side view
A black chalkboard covered in white equations and diagrams hangs at the top left. Both Harvard University and MIT have campuses in Cambridge.[1]
- 7Street lamp Side view
A twin-globe street lamp with two hanging baskets of orange flowers stands over the readers.
- 8Readers on a trolley Side view
Three people read, type on a laptop and write on top of a red-and-yellow trolley car.
- 9CENTRAL SQUARE sign Side view
A blue-and-white CENTRAL SQUARE sign hangs from a frame at the right. Central Square is formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street and Western Avenue.[1]
- 10Butterfly billboard Back view
A yellow billboard shows a blue-and-red butterfly, with a figure standing in front of it.
- 11Café umbrellas Back view
People sit at tables under striped umbrellas at the left.
- 12Sailboats Back view
Three sailboats, in blue, red and yellow, sail on the water.
- 13River and miniature city Back view
A winding blue river bends through a miniature city of small buildings and red trees at the top right.
The three photos together cover the whole outside of the mug except the area right behind the handle.
Collector notes
- Cambridge is also in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here series on our checklists, so check the series in the listing title before you pay.
- The inside of this mug is a dark teal, which shows in all three photos.
Before you buy
Cambridge also appears in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here series, so check the series name in the listing title before you pay. The inside of this mug is dark teal, and the three photos cover everything except the area right behind the handle.
