Why The Designer Of The Nostalgic Jazz Cup Never Made A Dime From It

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Many of us enjoy the warm comfort of nostalgia, like reminiscing about popular food and drink trends of the 1990s, or thinking back on retro snacks that we used to love, including what those old-school foods and drinks were served in. 

Social media fan groups, resell sites, and merch indicate that one beloved '90s trend that we love to remember is the "Jazz cup," with its purple and turquoise squiggles. This is an iconic paper cup design that likely factors into memories of birthday festivities, pizza parties, school functions, and family get-togethers. It's also still around today. So, it's hard to believe that the creator didn't make a cent off of her design.

Gina Ekiss created the bright zig-zag motif while working at Sweetheart Cup Company in Springfield, Missouri. In search of a new design for their cups, the company ran an employee contest in 1989. The design had to appeal to a wide range of customers while remaining pretty simple. The company's printing press could only handle two colors and not much detail. Sweetheart was also in the process of switching to digital printing at a time when many people weren't well-versed in computer design — but Ekiss was. The purple and teal now iconic colors she used, by the way? They were simply her favorites. She also named the design "Jazz." Sweetheart chose Jazz to put into production in 1991. Ekiss was a paid employee of the company, but never got a bonus or royalties for her design.

If it weren't for devoted internet sleuths, Ekiss would have also gone without credit in addition to compensation for her Jazz design. In 2015, Redditors began asking who was behind the design — it had previously been a mystery. Their detective work attracted news outlets, too, and after some teamwork, a reporter named Thomas Gounley tracked Ekiss down.

It's no surprise there was enough interest to launch this kind of investigation. The collective nostalgia for Jazz cups is strong, which tracks for the overall 1990s nostalgia trending across pop culture and fashion. The squiggled paper cup design instantly makes people think of the good ol' growing-up days, and they sure do pay tribute. People make crafts featuring the design, from embroidered baseball caps to earrings. It periodically trends as a meme, and features in nail art — some even cement their Jazz cup love for eternity with tattoos. Virginia-based brewery The Answer made an IPA called Jazz Cups sporting the design on the beer's label in 2020. You can even buy a mug with the Jazz design from Amazon.

Solo Cup Company acquired Sweetheart in 2004, and Dart Container Corporation then bought it eight years later, and at present it no longer produces new Jazz Cups, but it is possible to find the design on the internet. If you just want the real thing, you can find 100-packs of '90s-era Jazz cups on eBay for $70. Ekiss' work clearly has staying power, and especially since she wasn't compensated for her original design, it's good to give credit where credit is due.