Starbucks New Orleans mug: Discovery Series
The New Orleans mug shows a sugar-dusted plate of beignets, a saxophonist with a fleur-de-lis badge, a paddle steamer, a streetcar, French Quarter-style balconied houses and a gabled house, around orange NEW ORLEANS lettering.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozstandard mug size
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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When New Orleans doughnuts became beignets
On 22 August 1927 the Times-Picayune described a New Orleans doughnut for its readers: "There aren't any holes in them, they are not round like in the conventional doughnut" [5]. The paper called the thing a doughnut, and so did the coffee stands of the French Market, where Café du Monde had opened in 1862 [5]. Then the city leaned into tourism. According to the 64 Parishes encyclopedia, French Market coffee shops rebranded their doughnuts as beignets by mid-century [5]. A Times-Picayune columnist noted the change in 1958: "The good old doughnut has gone cultural on us" [5]. Today the order is always three, and the sugar goes on in amounts that, the encyclopedia says, call to mind an avalanche [5]. The plate on the New Orleans mug (5) is drawn with the sugar still falling.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1NEW ORLEANS lettering
NEW ORLEANS is printed in orange capitals on two lines, over a large green circle. The words are the only text on the visible side of the mug.
- 2Paddle steamer
A long riverboat with a dark navy hull, pale blue decks with windows, one black funnel, three maroon-red crowned funnel tops beside an orange-and-black striped box, yellow flags, a pale blue landing-stage boom at the bow and an orange wheel at the right end sits above the circle. It looks like a Mississippi paddle steamer, similar to the Steamboat Natchez that cruises from New Orleans, which also has a paddlewheel at the stern and gangplanks at the front, but the drawing shows more funnels than the Natchez's two, so it may be a generic steamboat. The mug doesn't name it.[2]
- 3Saxophone player
A blue-skinned musician in a flat-topped yellow cap, a yellow vest over orange sleeves and dark trousers plays a pink saxophone with coloured keys. The saxophone, the music notes beside him and the player's pose may point to the city's jazz history, but the mug does not say so.[4]
- 4Streetcar
A light blue streetcar with orange window frames, a pale roof and a yellow lower edge runs along the bottom of the circle. It looks like one of the city's streetcars, but the colours do not match the olive green St. Charles cars or the red Riverfront cars, so it may be a stylised version. The mug doesn't say which line it is.[3]
- 5Plate of beignets
A dark plate holds several golden fried squares heavily covered in white powdered sugar, with a few sugar dots falling around them. This matches beignets, the sweet fried dough most associated with New Orleans, and the sugar coating is what the drawing stresses. The mug doesn't name the cafe.[5]
- 6Balconied houses
Three narrow, tall houses stand side by side, the left white with black iron galleries, the middle blue with an orange roof and pink arched windows, the right yellow with a red balcony rail, each with a railed balcony and arched or square windows with palm trees drawn in them. They look like the galleried buildings of the French Quarter, which have multi-level iron galleries, but the drawing does not show a specific street or building. The mug doesn't name them.[8]
- 7Tropical plants and a gabled house
Orange banana-like leaves, teal leaves and purple heart-shaped leaves grow beside a narrow house with a pale blue triangular gable, yellow front panels under a red band, dark green shutters and a blue base. The house may be a New Orleans shotgun house, a long narrow type whose gable end faces the street, but the drawing is too small to be sure. The scene runs toward and behind the handle.[6]
- 8Fleur-de-lis badge
A red fleur-de-lis on a white shield-shaped badge sits on the saxophonist's chest. The fleur-de-lis is the symbol on the flag of New Orleans and a French emblem, which fits the city's French origins. The mug doesn't explain the badge.[1]
- 9Bowl of shrimp dish
A round blue bowl with curled pink shrimp in a dark sauce with small green and white pieces is drawn at the edge by the handle, with a thin handle reaching up to the saxophonist's arm. It looks like a seafood gumbo or a similar shrimp dish, and 64 Parishes says gumbo could be considered the defining dish of South Louisiana, but the drawing does not show enough to be sure. The mug doesn't name the dish.[7]
- 10To-go cup
A pale blue takeaway cup with an orange lid, a white sleeve with a small green circle and three wavy lines of steam sits behind the plate of beignets. It is drawn as a hot drink to go with them. The mug doesn't say what is in it.
- 11Lamp post
A tall thin pole with a blue lantern-shaped top runs down the left edge of the picture, partly hidden where the print wraps round the mug. It is drawn in blue and grey and is too partial to say what kind of lamp it is.
- 12Music notes and waves
Yellow and orange music notes float above the circle, near the saxophone and the steamer, and three small blue wavy lines sit at the circle's upper left. The waves are drawn as water, and no river is named on the mug.
The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.
Collector notes
- The saxophonist's yellow vest carries a fleur-de-lis badge, which shows clearly in the photo.
- The riverboat sits at the top, the streetcar at the bottom and the beignets at the lower left.
- The scene in element 7 runs toward and behind the handle, so part of it is out of view.
Before you buy
The photo shows one side of the mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. New Orleans also appears in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here series; this one is the Discovery Series mug, listed at 14 fl oz.
