Starbucks Illinois mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-14 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Illinois mug with pumpkins, an orange fish, a deer at an easel and a canoe around the word ILLINOIS — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

Illinois state symbols around a green circle: pumpkins (the state pie honours the Morton pumpkin industry), ears of corn (the state grain), a deer that looks like a white-tailed deer, violets, a Route 66 shield, a canyon waterfall and a movie-palace front.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Illinois, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
SKU: Not confirmed

Shop on Amazon See eBay listings

Sponsored links: we earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Browse all Discovery Series mugs on eBay →

The week Libby's warned that Thanksgiving pumpkin might run short

On 17 November 2009, Nestlé announced that it might not have enough canned Libby's pumpkin for the pies ^[1]. Soggy fields had made it hard for farmers to get harvesting equipment to the pumpkins ^[1]. Acres still sat unharvested around Morton, Illinois, and fungus meant many would probably be plowed under ^[1]. Morton's scale shows in older numbers. In the 1990 harvest season the Libby's plant there was processing 500,000 pumpkins a day ^[3]. Illinois grew about 690 million pounds of pumpkin in 2023, more than the other five pumpkin-producing states combined, according to the USDA ^[2]. And the pumpkin in the can is not the orange kind. The Dickinson variety, cream-colored and oblong, is the one most often found there ^[2]. The three pumpkins on top of the Illinois mug (2) are orange and yellow, not the cream-colored kind in the can.

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

What's on the mug

1
ILLINOIS lettering
ILLINOIS in yellow capitals across a dark green circle, the centre of the front.
2
Pumpkins
Three pumpkins, two orange and one yellow, sit on top of the green circle with purple vines and dark leaves. Illinois grows more pumpkin than any other state, most of it around Morton, and pumpkin pie is the official state pie in honour of that industry. The mug doesn't say which Illinois pumpkin it means.^[2]^[4]
3
Orange fish
A large orange fish with a red-patterned body and long yellow fins arcs down the left of the circle; its tail also shows at the right edge of the side photo. It is not drawn like any particular Illinois fish, and the mug doesn't name it.
4
Deer on an easel, likely a white-tailed deer
A red-brown deer with antlers and white spots stands on the ledge of a painter's easel, in front of a pale blue canvas. It is most likely meant as the white-tailed deer, the Illinois state animal, though the drawing mixes a buck's antlers with a fawn's spots. The mug doesn't name it.^[4]
5
Painter's palette
A yellow painter's palette with coloured dabs and two brushes sits at the foot of the easel, lower right.
6
Two paddlers in a yellow boat
Two paddlers in red jackets sit in a small yellow boat on pale blue water below the lettering. The paddles look double-bladed, so it may be a two-person kayak rather than a canoe.
7
Angler
A small figure in orange casts a fishing line from the shore, beside large orange and white flowers.
8
Hiker on a golden bluff Side view
A hiker with trekking poles, an orange cap and an orange backpack climbs a golden, striped rock slope dotted with small trees. The same hiker appears at the right of the back photo. The mug doesn't name the place.
9
Ears of corn Side view
Two yellow ears of corn grow on a tall stalk with purple, blue and dark green leaves in the middle of the side. Corn is the official Illinois state grain.^[4]
10
Movie-palace front, possibly the Chicago Theatre Side view
A theatre front with a tall vertical sign of round lights, an arch-headed window with a grid of panes, and a marquee along the bottom. The vertical sign and arched window may mean the Chicago Theatre on State Street, but the real sign stands at the centre of the front, not at its side, and the drawing carries no lettering. The mug doesn't name it.^[7]
11
Canyon waterfall, possibly Starved Rock Side view
A white waterfall drops between two purple rock walls topped with orange autumn trees; it also shows at the left edge of the front. It may stand for the seasonal canyon waterfalls of Starved Rock State Park, but other Illinois parks have falls too. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]
13
US 66 shield Back view
A white highway shield with a red border reads ROUTE, U S and 66, beside a purple cloud. Route 66 crossed Illinois on a diagonal between Chicago and St. Louis.^[6]
14
Red convertible, like a 1950s Corvette Back view
A red open-top car with a white side panel and a driver sits below the Route 66 shield. The rounded fenders and pale side cove look like a 1950s Chevrolet Corvette, but the drawing is too simple to be sure.
15
Yellow silo Back view
A tall yellow silo with a domed top and rows of small windows stands beside the barn.
16
Red barn Back view
A red barn with a pale blue roof, white trim, a loft window and a white door with a green circle stands at the base of the back. The same barn shows at the left edge of the side photo.
17
Purple flowers, possibly violets Back view
Purple five-petalled flowers on tall dark stalks rise above the silo. They may be violets, the Illinois state flower, though the petals are drawn evenly like a star rather than in a violet's shape. The mug doesn't name them.^[4]
19
Tent Side view
A small pale blue tent sits at the foot of the golden bluff, between the barn and the corn; it also shows on the back below the hiker.
20
Dark panel with grain heads
A tall, narrow dark green panel beside the handle carries three yellow-brown heads of grain or corn on a white stem. It is cut off by the curve of the mug in this photo.
21
Yellow pot with pink flowers
A yellow pot or sack holding pink and red flowers stands at the bottom of the dark panel, beside the handle.
22
Small conifers
A row of small dark green and purple conifers stands at the shore below the green circle.

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 the side photo.
The corn, the hiker and the theatre sign are on the side photo, the Route 66 sign, the convertible and the barn on the back, and the pumpkins, the orange fish and the deer on the lettering face.

Before you buy

The inside of this mug is orange, which shows at the rim in the side photo. The Route 66 sign, the convertible and a barn are on the back, and the corn, a hiker and the theatre sign are on the side. Starbucks also made Illinois mugs in the Been There and You Are Here series, so check the series name before you order.