Diner Mugs - A Dying Species?

Diner Mugs: A Dying Species? Because I'm a good husband, I regularly accompany my wife on weekends on shopping trips. During these excursions, I usually assume an advisory role, offering the supportive second opinion on purchases large and small. We visit clothing stores, and furniture stores, home improvement warehouses and malls of all kinds, and since I am not a patient shopper, my wife is responsible for making all the right choices, a job she does with skill. However, there is one item about which I consider myself an expert: diner mugs.

I don't know when diner mugs became an obsession of mine, but since I acquired my first one, I never tire of searching for others to accompany it in our cupboard. I love my coffee, and I enjoy it so much more in a four-square, sturdy diner mug. And as it happens, whatever store we may be shopping in, there is often an area I can drift away to, where the elusive diner mug of my dreams may be found. We'll go to Linens 'N Things or Bed Bath and Beyond, two of the major houseware chains, and while my wife examines comforters and placemats, I'm wandering over to plates and cups, looking for a diner mug. The only problem is, I'm rarely successful and this puzzles me.. Over the years, I've seen all manner of mugs in these stores, in every imaginable color, complementing every possible décor and place setting. Mugs you could sip tea from on the Queen Mary, mugs you could float the Queen Mary inside of, and mugs Queen Mary herself might even like, but not a single diner mug.

The fact is that unless you want to order one online or rub elbows with diner owners themselves, while they are buying 200 of them in a restaurant supply store, diner mugs are hard to come by. The law of supply and demand is probably at play here, since houseware retailers today micromanage inventory by computer and swoop weak sellers off the shelves with merciless speed. So why would a classic American item, affordable, durable, functional , décor-friendly and hypoallergenic-not make the cut? Now let's be clear on what I mean when I say diner mug. I'm not interested in the run-of-the-mill novelty coffee mug, chock-a-block in any Hallmark store, emblazoned with every known sappy or profane slogan. No, I'm referring to what is plunked down on the table or counter when you order coffee in a real diner or coffee shop, a thick handled, solid, ceramic mug that will serve you over and over and over, even if your children toss it out the window or you bounce it off the kitchen floor as you're emptying the dishwasher. They're simple, and multifunctional, perfect premiums for any kind of business, the kind of item a consumer is not likely to discard, and yet you're more likely to get a pen or fridge magnet with a store's address on it than a good, old-fashioned diner mug.

I intend to continue my search, which has only borne fruit in select locations, usually where tourist items are sold, and maintain my faith in the American desire to preserve the verities of the American table top. Save the Diner Mug!