It has inspired pop art and ceramic collectibles and its likeness is featured in museums and memorabilia. The cardboard Anthora cup has been a cultural mainstay in the New York City area for decades and in food trucks and diners across Long Island.
The iconic blue and white Grecian-style cup can be seen in the hands of actors in movies and TV shows like NYPD Blue, Castle, Mad Men and Law & Order.
Designed by Leslie Buck, a long-time Syosset resident, in 1963 for the Sherri Cup Company, the cup was meant to appeal to the numerous Greek-owned coffee shops in NYC.
Buck never received any royalties from the design, but as a salesman and executive became very successful from the cups.
Buck came to the U.S. as a refugee from Nazi Europe during World War II and had survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
His parents were killed by the Nazis. Buck Americanized his name, Laszlo Buch, to Leslie Buck and went into business with his brother, also a Holocaust survivor, and started Premier Cup, a paper cup manufacturer in upstate New York. Buck later joined Sherri as the company’s sales manager and later became the director of marketing.
Although Buck passed away in 2010 at the age of 87, his legacy can still be seen on a daily basis in the hands of New Yorkers from Long Island to Manhattan.
