Sippin’ (and chuggin’) through the years with a party mainstay — the red Solo cup

TABOR, S.D. (AP) — It’s red. It’s soft plastic. And it probably contains your favorite beverage.

The red Solo cup belongs on any list of the country’s most distinctly American objects, but it’s actually more than a single object. It is a symbol of the American psyche — a country that loves a good party, summertime barbecues, kegged beer, tailgating and above all, friendship and community.

The red Solo cup is the receptacle for each of these proud traditions. It also serves as a foundation for beer pong and functions as a vessel for contraband public drinks. It works as a spittoon and a reusable household cup that survives countless top-rack cycles through the dishwasher. Sharpie name inscriptions are its universal language, along with condensation formed by an ice-cold drink.

Its backdrops include campgrounds, block parties, parks, tailgates, keggers and county fairs.

It’s also part of the story of capitalism in 20th-century America. The Chicago-based Solo Company originally made coned paper cups for water coolers; in the 1970s, it was modified to plastic and patented in the year of America’s 200th birthday. It grew into a massive disposable foodware company and was sold for about $1 billion to Dart Container Corp. in 2012.

You can trace many plot points of the country’s last 80 years with the cup, starting with the advent of a postwar office culture and now-iconic — and cliché — water coolers. The country’s advertising and marketing ethos then allowed a mass-produced plastic cup to become an American household and party mainstay. More recently, it fueled college drinking traditions and a tailgate culture that is practically a business unto itself. And ten-figure sales to larger corporations have become regular occurrences at the corporate level.

The cup achieved a new level of status after country star Toby Keith recorded a rhapsodic paean about it. Keith initially viewed the song as a throwaway but warmed up to it and included it on a 2011 album.

Perhaps he and his producers realized that a song whose first verse includes “barbecues, tailgates, fairs and festivals” contains all the touchstones necessary to connect with American audiences on a deeper level.

“Red Solo cup/I fill you up,” the chorus goes. “Let’s have a party.” And America loves a good party indeed.

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.