“Cup Holders”
As a driver or a passenger of a vehicle, we have all used a device that is crucial to our safety and comfortability. At times, however, this tool was not always implemented into vehicles. It is often complained about on car trips. The device I am referring to is the lowly cup holder. In this last blog of 2023, we will look at the car cup holder.
Cup holders were not introduced into the first car designs. It was assumed that people would stop to eat and drink. That was a logical assumption at the time, but as the roadways and car travel increased, individuals started to feel a void. Forms of cup holder accessories were available for cars in after-market catalogs, but the practicality and extensiveness were limited. The cup game started to take hold in the 1950s during the rise of drive-in diners and eating in your car. Like most first attempts, the earlier cup holder designs were impractical. The first car to have a built-in cup holder was a 1955 Chevy with a cup holder on the back of the glove compartment door. In 1983, Chrysler began production of one of their most popular vehicles, the Dodge Caravan. In this vehicle were the fist cup holders molded into the car. In 1994, a major case for cupholders was brought to the Judicial branch of the US government with Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants. Stella Liebeck was seriously burned due to hot coffee. She did not have a single cup holder in her car to safely place her drink. The cup holder began to grow from this point on.
Though the cup holder has been around for only part of car manufacturing, it seems like a fairly simple device that car manufacturers should have implemented correctly by now. As many of us know, they have not, and it is a major factor in car buying. A cultural anthropologist, G. Clotaire Rapaille, states “...what was the key element of safety when you were a child? It was that your mother fed you, and there was warm liquid. That’s why cup holders are absolutely crucial for safety. If there is a car that has no cup holder, it is not safe.” The problem lies in the definition and the outdated designs of cup holders for the current cup. Many cup holders proudly advertised by car manufacturers are impractical or unusable. They are too small, in hard-to-reach places, or unattainable during travel.
If you have ever driven long distances in a car or wanted to be hydrated throughout your day, you have used cup holders. Often times people complain about the size or locations of cup holders, but the cup holder is a newer invention that companies have often ignored. The noise for better and more cup holders has reached car designers, and I have hope that in future years our cup holder needs will be met.
Commenter of the Month
Comment down below what you think car manufacturers should do to improve cup holders.