Starbucks Niagara-on-the-Lake mug: Discovery Series
The Niagara-on-the-Lake mug shows Brock's Monument, a gazebo, a fort plan that may be Fort George, a sailboat, a bicycle with a flower basket, blue tulips and a peach, around the town name on a dark green circle.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Niagara-on-the-Lake, 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 monument somebody tried to blow up
Major General Isaac Brock was killed at Queenston Heights on 13 October 1812 [1]. On the same date twelve years later, his body was moved to a monument there, and more than 8,000 people came [2]. The monument did not last. On Good Friday, 17 April 1840, a bomb set off at the base of its stairs damaged it [2]. Its architect said it could be restored, but many wanted a new tower instead [2]. It took thirteen years to begin a replacement. At the cornerstone ceremony on 13 October 1853, between 12,000 and 15,000 people showed up [3]. The column that stands there today is about 56 meters tall [2], with 235 steps and a stone statue of Brock on top [3]. The tall blue column with a statue on the Niagara-on-the-Lake mug (5) is drawn after that one.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE lettering
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE is printed in pale mint capitals, stacked on three lines with hyphens at the line ends. The letters sit over a dark green circle in the middle of the front.
- 2Sailboat
A sailboat with a yellow hull and a blue and pale blue sail rides on wavy lines at the right of the green circle. The sail carries a white star and a yellow sun, and a pennant flies from the mast; a small green cloud floats beside it. It is a generic boat, not a named vessel.
- 3Bicycle with a flower basket
A white bicycle outlined in dark blue, with blue, yellow and white spokes in its wheels, stands at the lower right. A yellow wicker basket on the front holds blue flowers. The mug doesn't say what it refers to.
- 4Planter box of blue tulips
A blue planter box on top of the green circle holds a row of dark blue tulips on pale green stems, with yellow leaves at the base. The mug doesn't name a garden or festival.
- 5Brock's Monument
A tall blue column with a decorated capital and a small standing statue on top rises from a pale blue pedestal with a panel on its face, set on a yellow block base; small figures stand at the corners of the base. That combination (a statue on a tall column, a pedestal on a square base, figures at the corners) matches Brock's Monument on Queenston Heights, which is inside the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and carries a statue of Isaac Brock on a fluted column. The drawing is simplified and the mug doesn't name it.[2][3]
- 6Yellow building with a curved gable
A yellow building with a curved, rounded gable and a small figure on its peak stands at the left edge. It has three columns of tall white windows, an arched doorway with a fanlight, and potted plants by the door. We could not match it to one building, and the mug doesn't name it. A blue shape cut off at the far left edge belongs to the part of the wrap that is not in the photo.
- 7Bunch of blue flowers
A cluster of dark and pale blue flowers with blue-green leaves and a few yellow stems sits between the column and the green circle. The flower type is not clear from the drawing.
- 8Blue inside
The inside of the mug, visible at the rim, is blue.
- 9Gazebo, possibly the one built for The Dead Zone
Below the yellow building, at the lower left edge, is an open pavilion with a pointed dark blue roof, slim posts and a yellow base, cut off by the edge of the photo; a small dark figure stands inside it. It looks like a park gazebo and could be the gazebo the film crew of The Dead Zone built and gave to the town, but the drawing is too partial to be sure. The mug doesn't name it.[5]
- 10Fort plan that may be Fort George
At the bottom, a green ground plan with a dark blue outline and stepped, notched corners holds several small dark blue buildings joined by white paths, with a few yellow shapes. The notched outline could be a fort's earthworks, so it may be Fort George, the rebuilt fort in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but no palisade is drawn and the drawing does not show enough to be certain. The mug doesn't name it.[4]
- 11Fruit that looks like a peach
A round pale blue fruit with a crease down one side and a green leaf on a short yellow stem sits on the ground line in front of the bicycle. It looks like a peach, a fruit the Niagara area has shipped since the nineteenth century, though the drawing is coloured blue rather than peach. The mug doesn't name it.[6]
Only the front face is shown. The back, the base and any markings underneath are not visible in this photo.
Collector notes
- The inside of this mug is a light blue, which is easy to miss in a front-only photo and worth checking when you compare listings.
- The blue and yellow palette separates it from the nearby Niagara Falls mug, which is a different design in the same collection.
- The photo shows the front only; the side opposite the handle and the area left of the yellow building are in no photo.
Before you buy
The inside of the mug is light blue, easy to miss in a front-only photo. The blue and yellow palette separates it from the nearby Niagara Falls mug, and a Been There Niagara-on-the-Lake mug exists too.
