Some cups evoke fond memories, one has instructions for dunking doughnuts and yet another comes with a little surprise.
Sally Richards
Waitress Sally Richards cares so much about her regular customers at Bagels & Things in Auburn she believes they deserve an exceptional mug for their coffee.
“The cups at work are small, but my customers are special to me, so they need a big cup of coffee,” she explained. With that in mind, Richards has purchased mugs for her regulars, keeping in step with their unique likes, travels and idiosyncrasies.
“One is a nurse who vacations in the Caribbean,” Richards said, “so I got her one with a beach theme – sand, crabs, towels – to remind her of her trips.” Another customer always orders blueberry pancakes, so she got one with blueberry stripes. “Her husband comes in, too, but he drinks tea, so we gave him a smaller cup,” she joked.
Although Richards, partial to Maxwell House Rich, is known more for giving away coffee mugs, she also received one, about a year ago, that is particularly precious to her. “It’s from my friend Debbie at work. It says ‘Friends’ all over it, in yellow, orange and green, purple and blue. There are green apples on it. It’s a great big one, must hold close to three cups of coffee. I have others, but the special one is from Debbie.”
Paul Foster
Paul Foster, another of Sally’s regular customers, has managed to hold onto his preferred coffee mug for 20 years. He drinks his particular favorite, Kona blend “Morning Sunrise,” sent to him by a friend in Hawaii, every day.
“The mug has a panda bear on the front,” he said, noting that on the back, it says, “Special Thanks to ‘Coffee Express'” because the purchase of this “Miracle Mug” benefited the Children’s Miracle Network of Eastern Maine Medical Center.
“It was given to me by a special friend for a special cause,” he said. “It was a spur-of-the-moment friend gift.”
Though retired now, Foster recalls thinking that in the early morning rush of getting to work, “it means a lot that my friend would think of me and take the time to buy the mug for me. I think of her every time I use the mug, and I’ll treasure it always.”
Robyn Holman
Robyn Holman loves to surprise guests by offering them her favorite coffee mug. The surprise happens when they get to the last drops of whatever they’re drinking.
“There’s a frog at the bottom of the mug,” she explained. “It was handmade by Sharon Townshend, who taught pottery and clay sculpture at Craftschool, an art center in downtown Lewiston.” Holman, an art curator herself, said Townshend is considered one of the best sculptors in the state and was selected to create the “Donor Recognition Wall” for the Auburn Public Library, now undergoing extensive renovations
Holman, who prefers to drink Folger’s Classic Roast, said it’s hard to imagine she has had this mug since at least 1980 or longer and it’s still in good shape. “I never put it in the dishwasher, I always wash it by hand,” she added.
Her daughters – Audrey, Sophie and Muriel – have all used the mug at one time or another and enjoy surprising guests with it. “There’s an unexpected little green friend to greet them when they’re halfway done,” Holman said. “It’s a fun mug, not a big mug, and I have my coffee in it every morning.”
Tom Poulin
The mugs police officer Tom Poulin uses each day to drink his morning coffee have a very special place in his heart; they belonged to his grandfathers. He estimates each holds two “normal” cups of coffee.
“One has a wide top and tapers down a bit; the other has a wide top and isn’t tapered,” he said. “My grandmother made plain and chocolate doughnuts, and I can still see them eating their doughnuts with a spoon.”
Poulin, who enjoys a good cup of Eight O’Clock dark French roast, said the homemade doughnuts would fit into the mugs in their entirety and float on top of the coffee. “I used to think, ‘Someday I’ll get older and can drink coffee,’ ” he recalled. “It was cool.”
The cylindrical mug boasts a picture of a doughnut and instructions on how to properly dunk your morning confection. The other, from his grandmother’s second husband, has a story on it titled “Ma With a Rolling Pin.”
“This was from a time when going to your grandparents was a really cool thing,” Poulin said. “I’ve got them both now, and no one but me drinks out of my coffee mugs.”
Sue Jordan
Auburn resident Sue Jordan, who really doesn’t drink much coffee, purchased her favorite mug at a craft fair in Lewiston about two years ago. Her older son, Brett, says she bought it “psychically.”
“It’s a two-hander, a two-tea-bag mug,” Jordan said. “Things stay hot much longer,” and that’s important when you’re drinking tea from a coffee mug. She will use a smaller, thick mug on occasion, but when she wants a lot of tea or wants it to stay hot longer, out comes her favorite.
She particularly likes the height and heft of her mug. “It’s tall and chunky, handmade in Mexico,” she noted. Pictures of the sun, moon and stars adorn the outside, and that’s where the psychic part comes into play.
“Brett flipped out when he saw it,” she recalled. “The patterns matched almost exactly one he made for me in pottery class at school, but that one didn’t survive the kiln and broke. I bought it a week or so after Brett made his, but I had never seen it.”
Even though she doesn’t drink coffee, “this mug is most suited to me,” she said.
Eric Cobb and Beryle Martin
The husband and wife team of Beryle Martin and Eric Cobb, two of Richards’ regulars, enjoy their Bagels & Things coffee in mugs purchased for them by her. Beryle’s is a white mug with a bowl-of-fruit motif; Eric’s sports concentric black bands on a white background.
“We come in here all the time, and we always ask for Sally,” Beryle noted. “That’s how we got these mugs. My first one got broken, so this is the replacement.”
Cobb says they like these mugs because they’re bigger than the regular restaurant mugs, which are about half that size. “As fast as I drink coffee, I don’t have to rely on so many refills, and that’s important!”
However, those aren’t the mugs most near and dear to their hearts.
“We have two mugs from Hawaii and two from Belize,” Cobb added, explaining they were married in Hawaii at a coffee plantation and also vacationed in Belize. “They’re not just mementos,” he stressed. “We don’t put them on a shelf (to admire); we use them.”
There is one more mug in their household with, perhaps, the most special meaning of all for Cobb. “It’s one I bought five or six years ago. It has a ‘Northern Exposure’ theme. I bought it where my sister lives, and that’s about 10 miles from the town where they shot it. It features the radio station from the show.”
Particular about their coffee, they stick with a regular brew – no flavorings – and drink it with just a touch of cream and a bit of sugar.
Though partial to Kona coffee from Hawaii, they often go with their second favorite, good old Dunkin’ Donuts.
“We have our own Cousinart grinder/brewer that we use at home on the weekends and on days we’re not rushed,” Martin added.
Dan Cifelli
If anyone ever doubted the game of baseball played a large role in Dan Cifelli’s life, they need only look around his office to see what the game means to him. They’re certain to notice his baseball plant pot, and, eventually, he’ll be hanging up his baseball artwork, but until then, he drinks his coffee from a baseball mug.
“I use this baseball mug all the time,” he said. “It’s round and shaped like a baseball, but it’s more the size of a softball, complete with stitches on the side.”
This crockery-style mug, Cifelli guessed, holds more than a measurable cup. Unfortunately, he can’t recall where he got the mug. Neither can his wife, Ellen, nor his sons, Chris and Todd.
He also can’t remember when the love affair with baseball began. “It’s just always been there,” he said, slightly perplexed and put on the spot. “I remember listening to the radio when I was a boy with my dad. I’ve always been a Red Sox fan. I’ve got baseball cards from the early ’50s; it’s been a part of life for me and my kids, and now for my grandson.”
He does, however, remember what he likes to drink best, Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. “Ellen buys the beans and grinds them as we use them,” he said.
Cifelli describes baseball as a passion, “something that is part of your life like golfing or knitting for some people.” He finds going to games relaxing. And the baseball mug? “The cup is a reflection of my life,” he said.
Gerry Lachapelle
Gerry Lachapelle, a senior hair stylist, works on her feet all day long, so is it any wonder when she starts her day she sits down with a relaxing cup of coffee? Making that moment even more special is the mug she uses, a gift from her two daughters, Rickie Philbrook and Tracey Weston.
“My favorite mug has photos of my grandchildren on it,” she said. They are Joshua, 15; Ethan 2 ½; Emma, 1.
Lachapelle, who’s partial to Dunkin’ Donuts’ Hazelnut coffee, received the mug last Christmas.
“They had it done at one of the kiosks in the (Auburn) mall,” she said, adding she uses the mug every day.
“My sister said I should just put it away to keep it safe, but it reminds me of my grandchildren,” Lachapelle said, “and every time I use it, I think of them.”
Of all the gifts over all the years, this one took her completely by surprise. “It was great! I use it at home with my morning coffee,” she said. “It’s just awesome.”
Comments are no longer available on this story