Starbucks Connecticut mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-15 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Connecticut mug with oyster shells, a person reading on a shed and a stack of books around the word CONNECTICUT — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

Connecticut State Capitol with its gold dome, an American robin, a steeple clock, a covered bridge, oysters, a lobster roll and a runner with a yellow disc.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Connecticut, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozstandard mug size
SKU: Not confirmed

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The pie tin that gave the Frisbee its name

In 1871 William Frisbie opened a pie bakery in Bridgeport, Connecticut ^[10]. A story grew up around his pie tins: students attending nearby universities, the legend goes, threw the empty tins through the air. Connecticut History calls that tale "entertaining (but unproven)" ^[10]. Meanwhile Walter Frederick Morrison, in California, built a plastic disc modeled on the popcorn tin lids he had played with as a child ^[10]. On 23 January 1957 the toy company Wham-O began mass-producing its first flying discs ^[11]. Later it spelled the name Frisbee, purposefully altering the spelling, according to Today in Connecticut History, to ward off potential lawsuits from the Bridgeport bakery ^[11]. Consumers bought over 200 million of them from Wham-O ^[10]. The runner on the Connecticut mug (8) carries a yellow disc that may be one of those pie tins.

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
CONNECTICUT lettering
CONNECTICUT is printed in red-orange capitals across a dark green circle, with the final T running into the reader's scarf.
2
Four oyster shells
Four oyster shells with orange rims and yellow-orange layered backs, opened to show pale blue-white insides, curve across the top of the green circle. They may refer to the eastern oyster, Connecticut's state shellfish. The mug doesn't name it.^[4]
3
Reader on a red covered bridge
A reader in an orange and red scarf, round glasses and blue trousers sits on the roof of a red-walled covered bridge with a green roof and a yellow-trimmed portal, holding a red book. It looks like a covered bridge and may be a nod to Connecticut's historic covered bridges, such as the West Cornwall Covered Bridge. The mug doesn't name it.^[7]
4
Stack of five books
Five books in red, yellow, dark green, blue and green are stacked below the lettering at the foot of the bridge. No titles are legible and no specific books can be identified.
5
Halved stone fruit and lemons
At the upper left an orange-red halved fruit with a single large red pit, like a peach, sits beside a round mottled yellow fruit and a cut orange segment, under dark green and blue leaves. The fruit is not tied to any Connecticut referent.
7
Lobster roll with a lemon half
A toasted yellow split roll holds pink-red chunks of shellfish, with a lemon half dripping on the green circle above it. It looks like a lobster roll, and the hot, buttered version is known as the Connecticut style. The mug doesn't say which style is meant.^[8]
8
Runner carrying a yellow disc Side view
A runner in a yellow cap with a green band, a red top, green shorts with yellow stripes and red shoes carries a plain yellow disc at hip height. It may be a pie tin or flying disc, perhaps a nod to the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, whose pie tins gave the Frisbee its name. The runner continues onto the Back photo.^[9]
9
Two people in headsets at a desk Side view
Two people wearing headsets, one in an orange jacket and one in a blue jacket, sit behind a dark green desk with white papers. It could be an office or call centre, but nothing on the mug says what work they do.
10
American robin Side view
A bird with an orange-red breast, grey-green wings and a dark head perches on the foliage. It is an American robin, Connecticut's official state bird since 1943. The mug doesn't name it.^[3]
11
Steeple clock Side view
A red-orange clock case with a pointed gable, small spires down both sides, a round white face and a glazed door below it stands at the right of the Side photo and shows again at the far left of the Front photo. The shape matches the steeple (Sharp Gothic) shelf clock, a design linked to Bristol, Connecticut, clockmakers. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]^[6]
12
Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford Side view
A yellow stone building with rows of arched windows, a central tower topped by a gold dome and a lantern, and green-roofed wings stands at the lower left of the Side photo. It matches the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, a High Victorian Gothic building with a gold leaf dome. The mug doesn't name it.^[1]^[2]
13
STARBUCKS wordmark Back view
The vertical STARBUCKS wordmark runs beside the handle on the Back photo.
14
Cornucopia Back view
A cornucopia spills an orange pumpkin, a yellow gourd, green grapes and leaves, red-orange flowers with blue leaves and an orange maple-type leaf across the back. It is a harvest horn of plenty. The mug doesn't say what it stands for.
15
Blue-leaved tree Side view
Under the robin, a mass of blue leaf clusters grows from an orange-red trunk. The blue leaves are not oak-shaped and the drawing doesn't say what tree it is. A similar blue cluster shows at the left edge of the Front photo.
16
River with small red boats
At the lower left of the Front photo, blue water runs between dark green banks with three small red-orange boats with paddlers on it. No river or place is named, so we describe it only.
17
Yellow cog wheels Side view
A large yellow cog wheel sits under the desk beside the clock, with smaller cogs in a row to its left and one below the clock. Cogs fit the clock beside them, but the mug doesn't say what they stand for.
18
Small landscape Back view
Below the cornucopia on the Back photo are green fields and hedgerows, small red-roofed buildings and a white boat on blue water. We cannot identify a specific place.

The three photos together cover most of the outside of the mug. The area behind the handle is out of view.

Collector notes

The inside of this mug is orange, which shows at the rim in all three photos.
The three photos show different faces: the oysters and the reader on the front, two people at a desk with a robin on the side, and a cornucopia on the back.

Before you buy

The runner (8) continues onto the back, so check the third photo for the full figure. The inside of this mug is orange. A Connecticut mug also exists in the Been There Series; this one is the Discovery Series.