College memories flood Twitter after red Solo cup inventor dies
College students everywhere are saying cheers to a man they probably didn't know. But they certainly knew his famous invention, usually found by the beer keg or on the beer pong table.
The man who invented the red Solo cup, Robert Hulseman, died on Dec. 21, and in recent days tributes have been flooding in on social media. He was 84.
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Hulseman invented the ubiquitous red party cup in the 1970s. His son said in reports that the cup was supposed to be for families to use, but his father didn't understand how popular his product was in the party scene -- especially on college campuses.
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As word of his death spread through social media, many took to Twitter to remember the influence Hulseman's cup had on their college experience.
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Plenty of college students are pouring one out in honor of the invisible legend who helped them party properly.
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This one woman apparently used the cups as the inventor intended. She seems to be the only one.
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In Hulseman's obituary in the Chicago Tribune that ran in the days before Christmas, his family wrote that the inventor of the cup and those helpful Traveler Lids for hot drinks on the go was more than just his job, he "was known for his sense of humor, which manifested in many a bad joke, great wit, and his ability to spin a partner on the dance floor" and his love of music.
Seems fitting then that his death has also renewed interest in country singer Toby Keith's 2011 song "Red Solo Cup," which is all about the party culture that grew around the product.
Cheers.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
