Starbucks Temple University mug: Discovery Series
Campus Collection mug for Temple University in Philadelphia: the Bell Tower, the Baptist Temple with its half-rose window, Hooter the Owl, the bust of founder Russell Conwell, the motto Perseverance Conquers and a North Broad Street sign.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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
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The printer who asked a pastor for lessons at night
One Sunday evening in 1884, a young printer named Charles M. Davies asked the Philadelphia pastor Russell Conwell how he might prepare for the ministry [7]. Davies had little money and little schooling, so Conwell offered to teach him [7]. The lessons were at night. Like the several dozen who soon followed him, Davies was a working man [5]. He brought along one friend, then six, and Conwell tutored them in his study [7]. When the group reached 40, Conwell found volunteer teachers and moved the classes down into the church basement [7]. In the fall of 1887 he announced Temple College from the pulpit, and pamphlets Davies prepared went out across the city. Two hundred prospective students signed up in the first month, according to Temple's official history [7]. The state chartered the college on May 14, 1888 [7]. Temple later chose a nocturnal bird as its mascot to honor that start as a night school [1]. The red owl perched on the word TEMPLE on the front of the mug (2) is that bird.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
The words TEMPLE UNIVERSITY in large white capitals across a dark green circle in the middle of the Front; the last letters run off the circle in grey.
- 2Owl, Temple's mascot animal
A red owl with round eyes, ear tufts and white feathered legs, perched on top of the word TEMPLE. Temple adopted the owl as its mascot to honour its start as a night school. This one is drawn as a real bird, not the costumed Hooter on the Back.[8]
- 3Bell Tower
A tall, very slim grey tower rising from a small plaza with a red base, between two red trees and under a grey cloud. Temple's 110-foot Bell Tower stands in the centre of Main Campus and is the university's visual icon; the thin, plain shaft matches it. The mug doesn't name it.[3]
- 4Baptist Temple (Temple Performing Arts Center)
A pale stone church with a large half-round window of red radiating panes over red arched doors, flanked by towers with small domes, with a figure and bare red trees in front. The half-round window matches the stained-glass half-rose window on the front of the Baptist Temple, Grace Baptist Church's building on North Broad Street, now the Temple Performing Arts Center. The mug doesn't name it.[4]
- 5Diamond
A large grey-and-white cut diamond with two red sparkles, at the left edge of the Front and the right edge of the Side. It may stand for Russell Conwell's speech Acres of Diamonds, which Temple calls the inspiration for its mission. The mug doesn't say.[5]
- 6Football helmet with the Temple T
A red football helmet with a white face mask and a white T outlined in red, next to a red football with white laces. The T is Temple's own letter mark. The helmet is also seen on the right of the Side photo.[9]
- 7PERSEVERANCE CONQUERS Side view
The words PERSEVERANCE CONQUERS in red hand-lettered capitals over the cheering fans on the Side. They are the English form of Temple's official motto, Perseverantia Vincit.[6]
- 8Fans above a basketball court, possibly the Cherry Crusade Side view
A row of about six fans in red, white and grey shirts, several with a T on the chest, raise their arms and wave red scarves on a stand above a grey court with small players and a hoop at each end. They may be the Cherry Crusade, Temple's student fan section at football and basketball games. The mug doesn't name them or the arena.[10]
- 9Iron gates Side view
A pair of black wrought-iron gates under an ornate arch, flanked by red trees, with two small red figures walking through. Which campus gate this is cannot be settled from the drawing.
- 10N BROAD ST Side view
A street sign reading N BROAD ST on a black pole with a pedestrian signal and a small red bird on top, at the left of the Side; the same pole is at the right edge of the Back. Broad Street runs through Temple's Main Campus.
- 11Red-and-white twist, looks like a soft pretzel Back view
A looped figure-eight shape in red with white dots, floating above a red building next to the handle. It looks like a Philadelphia soft pretzel with salt, but it is drawn in red, so this is uncertain. The mug doesn't name it.
- 12Red building with a glass wall and an open book Back view
A red building with a sloping grey glass grid on its right side, with an open book lying in front of it. The building is too stylised to name.
- 13
- 14Hooter the Owl with cherries Back view
A costumed owl mascot in a red jersey with the number 1, with large dark eyes on a white face (they could be read as dark glasses), wings spread, and a pair of red cherries on one stem with a leaf at its raised wing. This is Hooter the Owl, part of Temple's Spirit Squad. The cherries may refer to Temple's colours, cherry and white.[1][12]
- 15Train at a canopied platform, may be a SEPTA train Back view
The front of a grey train car with red sides and a round emblem, beside an open platform under a canopy with a small waiting figure. It may be a SEPTA train. The open, canopied platform looks more like Temple University station, the above-ground Regional Rail stop on the east edge of campus, than the Broad Street Line, whose Temple stop, Cecil B. Moore, is underground. The mug doesn't name it.[11][13][14]
- 16Bell that looks like the Liberty Bell, under a drummer Back view
A red bell hanging from a yoke on two posts, with a drummer in a white-and-red band uniform and tall hat standing on a brick wall above it, red music notes beside him. The bell looks like Philadelphia's Liberty Bell; the drummer may be from a marching band. The mug doesn't name either.
- 17Person beside the Broad St sign pole Side view
A person in a grey checked coat and red trousers standing just right of the N BROAD ST sign pole, below the basketball court. The figure is not named.
The photos do not show the inside below the rim (only a red rim shows on the Back view) or the bottom of the mug. The handle is on the right in the Front photo and on the left in the Back photo, so the strip under the handle is hidden.
Collector notes
- This is the Temple University mug from the Discovery Series Campus Collection, not a Philadelphia city mug: the catalog also lists discovery-series-philadelphia, been-there-philadelphia, icon-philadelphia and you-are-here-philadelphia, which carry the city's name rather than TEMPLE UNIVERSITY.
- Two owls are drawn: a lifelike red owl perched beside the name on the Front, and a costumed mascot in a red number 1 jersey holding cherries on the Back. The costumed one is Hooter; the Front owl is a plain owl.
- The Side photo shows the part of the wrap opposite the handle (fans, the basketball court and the gates), and it overlaps the Front at the diamond and helmet and the Back at the Broad St sign.
Before you buy
Two owls are on this mug: the plain red one on the Front and Hooter, the costumed mascot in a number 1 jersey with cherries, on the Back. The photos show only a red rim inside and do not show the base. The Discovery, Been There, Icon and You Are Here Philadelphia mugs are city mugs that carry the city's name, not TEMPLE UNIVERSITY.
About the Discovery Series
Sources
- Temple Traditions (Temple University)
- Temple University (Wikipedia)
- Campus of Temple University (Wikipedia)
- Baptist Temple: New life on North Broad (Temple University News)
- Mission and History (Temple University)
- Mission and History: motto (Temple University)
- Russell H. Conwell (Temple University)
- Temple Traditions: the Owl (Temple University)
- Temple Traditions: the Temple T (Temple University)
- Temple Traditions: the Cherry Crusade (Temple University)
- Campus of Temple University: public transportation (Wikipedia)
- Temple University: colors (Wikipedia)
- Temple University station (Wikipedia)
- Cecil B. Moore station (Wikipedia)
