An old logo mug: The mug in this photo has the first version of the Starbucks siren on it. There was ever briefly (in 2008 only) another version of this same brown Siren but slightly modified to be more modest. The 2008 version of the original logo was the same except the Siren had more hair on her head so that it fell over her breasts and there were no exposed nipples. The 2008 version also seemed to be missing a belly button. The questions to readers are as follows: When was this mug produced? Do you have any thoughts about its value?
Now let me provide the background story to this.
This blog generates quite a bit of email. People really do use the “contact me” on this blog and send me emails. I have to be brutally honest here – the majority of the emails I just click the “delete” button and never think twice about it. I get a number of spam type emails, or people who want to sell their products at Starbucks, or they want to open a “franchise” overseas, or they want an interview with an executive, or they want to exchange backlinks with me (I don’t do this), or they say my blog needs better search engine optimization so I should pay for their services (no way Jose. I can’t believe anyone would fall for that junk), or they want to know how to sell certain CPG products at their international home market, or they want me to review products that have nothing to do with coffee, and so on and so forth. Please don’t send me an email addressed “Dear Howard.” I probably should not admit this, but I simply don’t have the time to answer every single email. I don’t want people to stop using the “contact me” form, and I’d say I write a personalized reply to almost one-third of the emails I receive, but as I already said, I simply can’t answer every single one that I get. I am sorry. 🙁
A couple of weeks ago, a reader sent me a photograph of a mug and asked questions about it. I didn’t know the answers and I was busy so I didn’t respond. The same reader didn’t give up. I got a second email from him which said the following:
Melody, this is the second message I’m leaving for you. I have a late 70’s Starbucks coffee mug with no coppyright and the naked mermaid on the front. I need to know info about this mug. I subscribed to this site so I get updates but I want you to look at the mug.
I replied to the above email and wrote the following:
Thanks for your email. I really don’t have any information about 1970s era Starbucks mugs. I moved to Seattle in 1989. I have heard that in the 1980s, Starbucks had a partnership with Hartstone pottery to make mugs for sale in their stores. I don’t even own any Hartstone Starbucks mugs. Your mug clearly has value. Hope you’ll keep it and cherish it.
The email conversation didn’t end. In its entirety, here was his reply:
Starbucks Co. are the ones who told me to get a hold of you, they said you were the #1 Starbucks knower of all. Here are a few pics,could you please post them on your site to see if ANYONE knows anything about the history of this mug? Thank you Obi Melody One, you’re my only hope.
Yes, that made my head spin a little. I had this mental image of someone calling Starbucks Customer Relations, and some confused customer service representative referring the person to me. So, the mug images are attached, and if anyone has any information about the mug, please chime in.
I must admit, the more I look at the mug, I don’t think the mug dates to the 1970s at all. The store at 1912 Pike Place has continuously sold old logo mugs for a long long time. Not all the 1990s era merchandise had dates on the bottom. I have enough mugs to know that once in a while Starbucks failed to put anything on the bottom of the mug. I would say that this mug is a 1990s old logo mug from 1912 Pike Place. Anyone want to weigh in on it? My guess could be totally wrong.
The snow globe:
The attached images are of a snow globe I found on ebay. It is indeed a real Starbucks snow globe and was sold in stores in 1999. I realize that Christmas is over, but this was a gem of a find. It’s fairly large, and heavy, and the music box still plays. I really think it’s an amazing snow globe. I include it in the blog post as we continue to look at the amazing variety of merchandise that used to found in Starbucks stores. In this blog we’ve talked about paperclips, blenders, mugs, children’s stationary box, a Valentine’s Day box, plus many more merchandise items.
If you like reading about merchandise, click here for more of those kinds of blog posts.
On Monday the 14th, I will post the names of the winners from the Seattle’s Best Coffee Curiosity Pack Giveaway.
After that, I might drastically slow down my blogging. I apologize now, and hope that you’ll come back, but I am busy at work. On top of that, I am going out of town over President’s Day Weekend and probably will not really have time to put together blog content while I am out of town. Expect about a one week break in blogging starting on the 14th.
This is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything related to Starbucks. On Twitter, one person called to my attention this news article about single-serve coffee and Starbucks. The article has the subtle suggestion that Starbucks wants to have a machine that rivals the Keurig single serve coffee maker. Also please weigh in on the coffee mug in this blog article.
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I don’t know anything about old Starbucks merchandise as I wasn’t even a fan of Starbucks until 2005. I do know that the mug looks awesome and I’d even like to own it, and I don’t collect mugs! What an awesome keep!
Hope you get caught up and will keep looking for new posts from you, Melody! 🙂
“I have to be brutally honest here”. YOU ARE RIGHT!
As for the old logo mug, nothing is printed on the bottom. Hmm.
Congrats on being referred to as “#1 Starbucks Knower-of-All” by Starbucks! You rock! 🙂
Oh Melody! You should apologize for nothing! You are ONE human who does SOOOOO much already! and I agree, what a great compliment from Sbux!
I, too, FEEL as tho that mug is not from the ’70’s. Not that I was having any Sbux experiences in the 70’s (there were none anywhere else…..) I didn’t get in until the late ’80’s. I was out of college in ’74 and this just doesn’t strike me as a ’70’s object. BUT, that’s all feeling. I don’t know.
I do remember snow globes being sold in the ’90’s. I so wish now that I had bought so much back then that they would likely never have again.
Thanx so much, always, for the sharing of knowledge and this forum!
This mug IS from 1978. This was the first mass produced mug from a company named “Brothers Ceramics” which was located next to the stadium in an old, two story brick building. There was a bar in the front of it called “Micks” and in the back and second floor was the ceramics ‘factory.’
Bartholomew “Bart” was the brother of Michael “Mick” who made the mugs for the Seattle Seahawks.
The bottom is blank because it was up to Starbucks to place a stamp on the bottom…which they chose not to as back then it wasn’t something anyone really did. Especially printed work. Usually when you find something before 1980 (on anything ceramic) it is rare to find something printed….usually it’s stamped during fabrication. Gigantic companies would sometimes print on the bottom but usually only their name and the city/state where it was created.
I worked for Starbucks from 1983 to 1998 and have been a collector of theirs since 1977. I worked at Pike Place as a 16 yr old and eventually ended up in their marketing department. My father owned an advertising firm from 1965 to 1997 and did Starbucks first campaign. He worked with them until (ironically) 1978. I have all sorts of their stuff from the 70’s. Posters, mugs, shots of me as a kid playing in their offices.
Anything you need to know about Starbucks from 1971 until 2000, I know. After 2000 they changed how they did everything from their logo to marketing, business relations….so on and such and I lost interest as all they became is just another plastic company floating in the cesspool of money and indifference.
Melody what a great compliment from SB! You deserve it. I have never seen that mug or anything like it. Will be interested to see the background info if anyone can find it. Talking about merchandise, my local SB continues to display Xmas stuff on sale and the rest of the store looks so sad. Melody, gosh take a break! Whenever you blog, it is neat to read. Enjoy Dallas!
I just love coming to your blog. I write about a lot of other coffee places, but you remind me of all the joy that I get from Starbucks.
We were talking about the new logo at the store yesterday when I was working and we thought how fun it would be if they made aprons for us in all the different logos. Maybe a brown one with the classic logo, the current green one, the new one, the black apron…. all of those would be so cool and a fun way to express the growing and changing Starbucks. Fun right?
I know it’s super dorky, but I’m really excited about this new logo. It’s something different and exciting. I’m waiting for us to get all the new stuff and then I plan on blogging about it too. Think about Christmas 2011…. all the new logo stuff! WOO!
Has anyone given or received a Starbucks ecard yet? What did you think of the transaction?
I can’t offer any help with dating the mug. Please don’t apologize for a brief hiatus- your blog is amazing and I can imagine it takes a bunch of time to keep up. Some times you are unable to commit that time and no one should give you a guilt trip.
@purple1 – I was pretty flattered by the second email! It did the trick to get a blog post! 😉
@Diele – Thanks. It’s just going to be hectic with going to Dallas, and work, so it’s one week away from the blog.
@Nick – I check your blog now and then. I look at your blog as amazing partly because of your location – New York. I mean you’ve got like 255 stores in NYC. What incredible Starbucks experiences you must have.
@BCav and KimmyinTX – Just waving “hi” and thanks back! Texas has been so good to this blog. 😉
Melody re NYC SB stores- Each one is a different experience depending on the time of day, where in the city you are, and the group of people in the store. And each store is maintained on such different levels.
@CD–I received a Starbucks Card eGift last week. It was a very pleasant surprise.
Starbucks seems to have the technology working as you are given the option to print out the eGift or transfer the balance to your registered Starbucks Card. I transfered it to my Starbucks Card without a problem.
@Melody–you never have to appoligise for producing a quality blog. A sign of success is your readers wanting more. However, most of us realize you have a day-job and a life too and that makes your blog posts all that much more appreciated. You have to balance life, avocation, and vocation.
I also appreciate the people who post comments to your blog, a great blend of those of us that appreciate coffee and the coffee arts to the truly passionate.
I can help with some of the old logo mug info. I was buying merchandise in the late 70’s for about a decade and that white logo mug, and Hartstone, are familiar. First, just to “ground” folks, when I started, Starbucks had 3 stores and was opening a whopping 1/annually. We wanted to offer logo mugs but didnt exactly have “volume” to get anyone to make them for us. A big order might be 100-and with 3 or 4 stores, you can imagine that would last a while. To offer merchandise like a logo mug,I purchased white porcelain mugs (and there’s a whole story about porcelain and Pike Place) and sent them to a screening house in Tukwila that screened a decal of the logo on each mug individually by hand. Hence, no manufacturer marking besides sometimes the mug manufacturer. I tended to use order diner-style mugs or straight-sided contemporary mugs, like the one shown. The photo looks like one I have. It was timeconsuming but created something “ours”.
In the 80’s (and probably after my time…) we had maybe doubled to 6 stores, and had enough volume to have manufacturers customize mugs for us and Hartstone, along with Rosanna Imports among others including craftspeople at the Pike Place Market, were some of the companies we used. It made my life easier to order from one vendor and continued to create a product that our customers wouldnt see at the Bon or some other larger retailer.
Cant help on the snowglobes but Im betting its the same vintage as the Xmas Village Starbucks stores I still have in storage…
so cool to look at merchandise I never knew existed. Enjoy your vacation- you deserve it!
@Gay N – Wow, thanks for that information. My how times have changed from opening 1 store a year to hundreds (or in the case of the past few years, even closing hundreds in a year).
Thanks for doing what you did to make today’s Starbucks possible!
@DadCooks – thanks for the info on the ecard. Those have been requested for quite some time. Since this is an open thread, what exactly do you cook? (I say I cook “dad stuff,” 1 pot (don’t want to cook and then spend a long time cleaning), hearty stuff)
@purple1 – do you live in NYC? I totally agree about the amount and differences between each store. I’ve traveled a lot before I finally figured out where I wanted to settle and starbucks was very patient with me. I also transferred into this store from another. So I’ve worked all over the place and have a lot of things to compare it to. It’s definitely very different in New York than it is anywhere else.
I write about all that in my blog sometimes, but also focus a lot on just the New York experience…. as well as going to other coffee shops. I really just LOVE coffee. 🙂
Nick am not in NYC but close to it and have gone to many of the NYC stores. Just this morning at my local SB friends were chatting about the differences in SB stores and we shared our experiences. It is so interesting to see the different experiences each customer has at a SB. I also have to go back to the issue of what makes a good barista and what makes quality customer service.
I really wish there was a Starbucks mug guide, or a merchandise guide in general. It’s neat to see things from the past!
And thanks, @Gay N, for that information!
(btw, re: my avatar – does anyone recognize this Starbucks mug that ChocoCat is sitting in? No markings on the bottom…)
@Gay N – Thank you! Wow that was a huge amount of information. So this mug is a 1970s era mug with the logo screened on to it. I wonder if the reader who sent me the email is reading this. I hope so. It sounds like your kitchen has probably a number of Starbucks history lessons in it. Again, really wonderful information that you posted here. The Hartstone mugs that I’ve seen on ebay are not logo mugs, just pretty designs. I’m going to have to keep my eye out for something from Rosanne Imports, though I don’t know what I would be looking for. Just as an aside, I’ve always wondered if there are any “Il Giornale” coffee mugs out there somewhere?
@CD — my DadCooks handle comes from the time I had a Personal Chef business years ago as a “hobby” job. However, my real job is as an Engineer (well I am retired now and working when I want to as a “consultant”).
I am an old school home cooker, taught by my Mother and Grandmother who firmly believed that all guys needed to know how to cook and cook well (I can iron and sew too). I can cook anything on anything including a campfire and a woodstove to the latest high-tech induction cooktops and hybrid ovens. I even learned to roast coffee in a cast iron skillet, crush it with a mallet, and make boiled coffee in a tin pot–done right it is actually very good.
Well CD, I think I have taken enough liberties with this open thread to answer your question, thank you all for your patience.
Thanks Gay N, that’s my mom’s mug that she gave me in 1990 when I graduated High School and I knew it was old and from the original store. Thank you so much for all the cool info about it. I never use it and have babied the crap out of it for the last 20 years.
KC
and what u are telling me is that’s it one of first Starbucks coffee mugs ever made, right?
as others have written, thanx to Gay N for all that info! THAT’s really helpful!
@CD: as it warms up here, I’m sooo sad to be losing snow! Maybe it will become cold! and/or more snow later!
Wow great history lesson and info on that mug!
I don’t know about other parts of the country but ever since the Christmas holiday ended all the stores have been quite bare. Not much at all for Valentines…never got any of the Adler mugs back, unfortunately. I have seen the ‘Secret Admirer’ ceramic mug and the Valentine gift cards and that’s been about it. Hope March brings some fun things!
Well, that Espresso Roast mug w the spigot design goes back to about 1988/9 and the first coffee stamps. Its kind of tongue-in-cheek and a favorite that was replaced w a more italianate feeling “look”. That’s a collectors item my friend.a little oil may shine up the color.
@gay – hey, thanks! Didn’t think it went back that far!
Nice Mug (Shot)! I could see the wife wishing she had one of those snow globes…. It seems I missed a lot from the time I walked into Starbucks in 1990 and never returned until about 8 years ago.
She used the cup for most of the 80’s and I saw it and asked for it when I moved away for the first time. She would bring back Starbucks beans in the 80’s and make really good coffee for us on the weekends. I always thought coffee tasted better in that cup!
I always kept it in safe place and always padded so it won’t break. It’s a shame this logo will be forgotten about in the future.
I love the mug posted! I’ve not seen it before and I still need to read through the other answering posts here but I’m hoping someone has some info to share 🙂 The snow globe is CUTE! It’s killing me…I want to go right now and shop for starbucks merchandise but I need to be good – hoping to be able to pick up some more mugs and tumblers soon. In the meantime I will soak in the posts! 🙂
Has anyone given or received a million dollars yet? What did you think of the transaction?
I posted a question similar to the one above on Sunday about the new Starbucks ecard and on Monday morning I received my first Starbucks ecard! I figure if receiving the ecard had anything to do with my post, I’d up the ante!
😉
In all seriousness, receiving the ecard was a great experience and a seamless transaction. You can “register” the number on the gift (to secure it) and when you print it out, the barista at the register can use the bar code to scan the card for your transaction.
The only “down side,” if any, is that the message in the original email accompanies the print out. The message on my ecard was personal in nature (it was Valentines day after all…) and I didn’t want to share it with the barista so I removed that portion of the print out before handing it to the barista.
Has anyone given or received a Starbucks ecard yet? What did you think of the transaction?
@CD: yes, I DID receive one yesterday! It was really a surprise. (I didn’t think this friend would do something so…. electronic) Nice surprise. I agree about the message part. I too cut that off and took the bar coded part only. I also think, as has been mentioned on msi, that Sbux NEEDS to learn about printing things up. Yankee candle, Border’s (usually Border’s) all have it down…..you can send the same message or ad, and then when it comes to “print”, ONLY the little black and white necessary part prints….it is NOT NECESSARY to use half a cartridge of colored (or black!) ink in order to get the gift or coupon part. Drives me crazy to just watch that ink pouring out, back and forth…..lost alot of RED yesterday! for a huge company so concerned with “green” (?) I would expect them to figure this out already. And, I’ve said it before in an email to corp. etc.
Anyway, the receiving end went smoothly for me. (other than ink;)
Melody. I have the exact same mug and was wondering the value. I bought mine from the original Pike Place Store in either 1982 or 1983. It must be very rare as I have not seen any like it until I came across your site.
Hi Rich M! Thanks for stopping by the blog. That mug is highly collectible. If you take a look at the comments by Gay N. you can see it dates to a time when there were only a few stores. Keep it and cherish it! If you ever want to sell it, please keep me in mind. 😉
Also, hope you will click “like” on this site’s Facebook page too.
Thanks!
I have that rare snow globe. Keeping it for the grand kids someday.
I have an old tin can with the Starbucks logo on it in A one condition.I would love to send you a picture of it. What is the email that I can send the photos to???
Hello Janet – If you want to send me a picture, use the “Submit a pic” button on this website:
http://starbucksmelody.com/submit-a-photo-or-tip/