Starbucks Toronto mug: Discovery Series

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

Starbucks Discovery Series Toronto mug with a bicycle, an arch bridge, a streetcar and red cliffs around the word TORONTO — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Toronto Discovery mug shows the Princes' Gates, the CN Tower and Rogers Centre dome, a red-and-white streetcar, a hockey player, a Humber Bay-style arch bridge, red cliffs that may be the Scarborough Bluffs and a multi-arched bridge like the Bloor Viaduct.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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 Toronto bridge built for a subway that did not exist

By 1913 the plan for a new bridge over Toronto's Don Valley included a second deck, for underground trains that might come someday. Toronto's commissioner of public works, R.C. Harris, required it, despite controversy over the high added cost ^[1]. A New York firm, Jacobs and Davies, had recommended provisions for a future subway in a report in 1910 ^[2]. The Prince Edward Viaduct was completed in 1918. On 3 July 1965, forty-seven years later, the first subway train crossed the Don Valley on its lower deck ^[2]. The only work left was to lay reinforced concrete as a trackbed ^[2]. According to Spacing Toronto, the deck saved at least $10 million on the Bloor-Danforth line ^[2], and Transit Toronto also calls the conversion millions of dollars cheaper than a new bridge ^[1]. The matching deck under the Rosedale Valley span curved too sharply for trains, so the subway got its own bridge there ^[2]. The multi-arched bridge on the Toronto mug (13) may be the viaduct.

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

What's on the mug

1
TORONTO lettering
TORONTO in pale mint capitals over a dark green circle.
2
Bicycle
A bicycle with red-spoked wheels sits at the upper left, just above the arch bridge. The same bicycle shows at the right edge of the side view. The mug doesn't say what it stands for.
3
Arch bridge, likely the Humber Bay Arch Bridge
A pale mint arch rises over a flat navy, red and white deck and holds it up with a row of dark vertical hangers. That looks like the form of the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, a through-arch walking and cycling bridge on the Martin Goodman Trail, and the bicycle drawn on top of it fits. The real bridge has twin arch ribs, which the drawing shows as one, so this is a likeness, not a certainty. The mug doesn't name it.^[4]
4
Streetcar like the TTC's red-and-white cars
A red-and-white streetcar with a flat front, a large windscreen and round lamps in a red band stands at the left of the lettering. It resembles the Canadian Light Rail Vehicles the Toronto Transit Commission ran in red and white livery from the late 1970s to the late 2010s. The mug doesn't name the model.^[12]
5
Red cliffs above a lake, possibly the Scarborough Bluffs
Red-orange cliffs topped with trees rise above dark blue water, with a low wooded shore at the lower right. Toronto's best-known cliffs are the Scarborough Bluffs above Lake Ontario, so this may be them, but the real bluffs are pale sand, not red. The mug doesn't name them.^[7]
6
Princes' Gates
A single round-headed arch with a winged figure on top, its arm raised, between two colonnades of red columns topped with flags. This matches the Princes' Gates at Exhibition Place: a Roman-style arch under a statue of Winged Victory, flanked by colonnades of nine columns carrying flags.^[3]
7
Hockey player Side view
A skater in a mint sweater with red and navy stripes on the sleeves and a red band at the hem, a navy helmet and a pale blue visor swings a hockey stick across the middle of this view. The face is drawn in red. The stick and puck continue onto the front view. The sweater carries no team logo.
8
Movie camera Side view
A dark film camera on red tripod legs stands at the upper left, with a film reel beside it. The same camera shows at the right of the back view. The mug doesn't say what it stands for.
9
Red streetcar (side of the same car) Side view
The red and white streetcar from the front view, seen along its side, with the bicycle above it. Like the front, it resembles the TTC's older red-and-white cars.^[12]
10
Row of turreted buildings with a clock tower, possibly Old City Hall Side view
A row of turreted buildings with arched windows in light blue, navy and red, with a tall clock tower set off centre behind them. Toronto's Old City Hall has a clock tower placed off centre on its front, so the tower may be drawn from it, but the row is too stylised to confirm. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]
11
Food truck Back view
A mint and white truck with red trim and a burger painted on its side drives across the top of the bridge.
12
Film reel Back view
A red film reel with a strip of film unspooling sits above the bridge, next to the movie camera, with small stars scattered around it. The mug doesn't say what it stands for.
13
Multi-arched bridge, possibly the Prince Edward (Bloor) Viaduct Back view
A long flat deck sits on a row of open arches with vertical posts above them, carried on tall piers, over a pale blue river. That may be the structure of the Prince Edward Viaduct, whose deck rests on columns over steel arches that bear on concrete piers above the Don Valley. Other Toronto arch bridges look similar, so this is not certain. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]
14
Round garden with a maple leaf Back view
A round green lawn crossed by four paths, with a red ring and a red maple leaf at its centre. The same garden shows at the lower left of the side view. We could not match it to a specific Toronto park.
15
CN Tower Side view
A thin red and navy needle with a pod near the top stands between the dome and a row of blue and red towers, just below the skater's glove. That shape is the CN Tower, Toronto's communications and observation tower. The mug doesn't label it.^[9]
16
Rogers Centre dome Side view
A low red-ribbed dome sits beside the needle tower. Its paneled roof and its place at the foot of the CN Tower match the Rogers Centre stadium, whose four-panel roof opens and closes.^[8]
17
Sandwich, possibly peameal bacon Side view
A pale blue bun stuffed with thick red filling floats above the clock tower. It may be a peameal bacon sandwich, named Toronto's signature dish in 2016, but a burger fits the drawing too. The mug doesn't say.^[10]
18
Gabled brick houses like Toronto's bay-and-gable homes Back view
A short street of red and navy houses with steep gables, bay windows and small trees, with a signpost in front. They look like bay-and-gable houses, a style common in Toronto's older districts. The mug doesn't name a street.^[11]
19
Hockey stick and puck
The blade of the side view's hockey stick runs along the lower left of the front, and a black puck flies past the arch of the gate.
20
Downtown towers
A cluster of tall blue and red towers, one with a spire, stands below the streetcar. They are too generic to name.

Three photos show the front, the side and the back of the mug. The base and any label underneath are out of view.

Collector notes

The photo shows the mug in its open dark green box on a shop shelf.
The streetcar and the bicycle sit at the left of the lettering, and the cliffs above the lake at the right, beside the handle.

Before you buy

Three photos show the front, the side and the back; the base and any label underneath are out of view. Toronto also appears in Starbucks' Been There, Icon and You Are Here series, so check the series name before you buy.