Starbucks New Jersey mug: Discovery Series
The New Jersey mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets NEW JERSEY in light blue capitals over a dark green circle, with a pizza, wrapped candies, a sandcastle with a person building it, a shoreline and autumn leaves; the inside is light blue.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- New Jersey, USA
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozstandard mug size
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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The man who tried to own the name salt water taffy
In 1923, John F. Edmiston of Wildwood, New Jersey, laid claim to two words: salt water taffy [1]. The Patent Office granted his petition to register them as a trademark [1]. Then he wrote to the competition. According to the New York Times, he told every other maker to stop using the name and said he would collect royalties on all taffy made since 1895 [1]. About 500 candy manufacturers, chiefly along the Atlantic seaboard, were in his path. James Brothers of Atlantic City took up the fight in August 1924 [1]. By March 1925 the makers had won the right to keep using the name [1]. Nobody has pinned down where the words came from. The tale of a shop flooded in a storm in 1883 is probably apocryphal, and the earliest printed use found so far is a Pennsylvania newspaper from 1886 [2]. Once pulled and cut, the taffy was wrapped in paper with a twist at both ends [2]. The wrapped candies on the New Jersey mug (4) may be salt water taffy.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1Lettering
NEW JERSEY in light blue capitals over a dark green circle.
- 2Pizza
A pizza with a slice pulled out sits at the bottom of the green circle.
- 3Tomato
A round orange tomato sits at the foot of the pizza.
- 4Wrapped candies
Two orange and blue wrapped candies lie above the lettering at the left.
- 5Sandcastle builder
A person in a blue cap and striped top kneels at the right, building a yellow sandcastle.
- 6Sandcastle
A yellow sandcastle with a tall tower and a small shovel stands at the right of the lettering.
- 7Shoreline
Blue water with white wave lines runs along the lower left.
- 8Autumn leaves
Orange and yellow leaves with an acorn hang at the lower right of the circle.
- 9Purple flowers
Purple flowers and dark leaves rise at the far left edge.
The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.
Collector notes
- The inside of this mug is light blue, which shows clearly at the rim in the photo.
- The pizza and the tomato sit under the lettering, while the candies are above it and the sandcastle is at the right, so each face of the mug carries a different food or beach scene.
Before you buy
The photo shows one side of the mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. The inside is light blue. New Jersey also appears in the Been There and You Are Here series, so check which series a mug belongs to before you order.
