Interiors influencer Benji Le (aka @benji_plant) recently showed off his latest purchase on YouTube: a pair of thick, squat coffee mugs with a distinctive green-striped rim. The kind of mass-manufactured tableware you might find in diners across America. “Whenever I go to a diner I feel like the coffee tastes better because of the mugs they have,” he said, “so I got some myself.” Considering that traditional diner mugs sell for up to 20 times their original prices on eBay, Benji’s not alone.
For most of the last century, diner crockery was dominated by US potteries such as Buffalo, Shenango and Victor – an electrical insulator manufacturer that began producing dinnerware for the US Navy at the outbreak of the second world war. Victor’s sturdy, concave coffee mugs – with an unglazed base to prevent sliding – became an enduring symbol of diner culture. They were accompanied by an endless assortment of chunky plates and bowls sporting simple striped or checkered rims. But what was once an all-American business started going into decline: Victor Insulators has closed its dishware division due to foreign competition, Buffalo has outsourced to China and sold its American factory, and Shenango’s Pennsylvania premises are abandoned and overgrown.
