2004: For 20 years, Starbucks have released a range of holiday cup designs, most of them based around their world famous red cup. It's not easy to find the very first Starbucks holiday cups, which made their debut in stores in 1997. Few were saved, and electronic design files were lost in an earthquake in 2001. Even an Internet search is unyielding, with the cups having made their arrival long before the first selfie. But, we have them here! Click on for a photos of all 20 holidays cup designs. (Image: Joshua Trujillo/Cover Images)
{"Image ImageDescription": "IN PHOTO: Starbucks 2004 Christmas cup\n\nThe release of the high street Christmas coffee cup has become a tradition and an indicator that the countdown to the holiday season has started.\n\nFor 20 years, Starbucks have released a range of holiday cup designs, most of them based around their world famous red cup.\n\nIt\u2019s not easy to find the very first Starbucks holiday cups, which made their debut in stores in 1997. Few were saved, and electronic design files were lost in an earthquake in 2001. Even an Internet search is unyielding, with the cups having made their arrival long before the first selfie.\n\nLuckily, designer Sandy Nelson, a Starbucks alumna, stashed away a set of these cups, along with other artifacts from her 14 years working in Starbucks Creative Studio. She remembers the design fondly, one of her first assignments at Starbucks.\n\n\u201cIt was August, and I had just started with the company,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cWe were working on holiday creative for the season to come. We had what felt like a hundred cup designs pinned up on the wall. Then Howard [Schultz] came by, looked at all of them, and picked my design. I couldn\u2019t believe mine was chosen.\u201d\n\nThat first cup wasn\u2019t really red \u2013 at least not the holiday red that Starbucks has become known for. It was closer to a magenta, and the cup also came in three more colors: sapphire, emerald and amethyst. The design featured swirls and hand-drawn holly leaves that were flecked with coffee beans.\n\nNelson was in Anchorage visiting a friend when she saw the cups in a store for the first time. \u201cI remember seeing the cups piled high on the counter, and I realized \u2018this is big,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt was thrilling.\u201d\n\nIt would be two more years, in 1999, before the Starbucks cup would don its signature red color. Jon Cannell, manager Creative Design, was part of the design team that year.\n\n\u201cI remember it all started when the creative director asked us, \u2018What is holiday red? Is it burgundy? Is it more of a ruby color,'\u201d Cannell said. \u201cWe brought in all these holiday items in a range of reds, and we landed on a red that we all agreed on.\u201d\n\nThat year, they settled on a vibrant shade of candy-apple red with whimsical drawings of snowflakes, stockings and other images that evoked the spirit of the holiday. \u00a0\n\u201cThere was a response to that shade of red,\u201d Cannell said. \u201cIt was a joyous color, and it really resonated with customers.\u201d\n\nOver two decades, Starbucks holiday cups became emblematic of the holiday, with designs that reflect the joy of the season with scenes of celebration and gathering. That shade of red was the foundation for the cups, the canvas for each creation that has evolved over the years.\n\nThe cup became a symbol of the holidays, the anticipation growing with each passing year. \u00a0Over the years, online countdown clocks have sprung up as speculation builds on social media. It is now a fixture in popular culture, the star of both morning talk shows and late night stand-up routines. Passions for the cup have run so high that even the design could become controversial, as it did in 2015 when Starbucks introduced a modern two-toned, ombr\u00e9 red design.\n\nThe 2017 design echoes themes from cups of years past with intimate moments connected by swirls of red and white. But this time the coloring book inspired design leaves room for customers to add their own color.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re inviting everyone to color in the holidays in a way that\u2019s meaningful to them,\u201d said Leanne Fremar, executive creative director for Starbucks. Maybe even magenta.\n\nFeaturing: Starbucks 2004 Christmas cup\nWhen: 10 Nov 2017\nCredit: Joshua Trujillo/Cover Images\n\n**EDITORIAL USE ONLY. IMAGES ONLY TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EDITORIAL STORY. IMAGE COPYRIGHT REMAINS WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR SUPPLIER.**", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "Joshua Trujillo", "Image ExifOffset": "3954", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:11:10 14:17:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated"}