Dixie Cup is the brand name for a line of disposable paper cups that were first developed in the United States the early 20th century to improve public hygiene.
They were developed in 1907 by Lawrence Luellen, a lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts, who was worried about germs being spread by people sharing glasses or dippers at public supplies of drinking water. Luellen developed a water-vending machine with disposable cups, and with another Bostonian, Hugh Moore, embarked on a public-education campaign. The breakthrough came when the devices became standard equipment on trains.
The Dixie Cup was first called "Health Kup," but its name was changed in 1919 after a line of dolls made by Alfred Schindler's Dixie Doll Company in New York. Success led the company, which had existed under a variety of names, to change its name to Dixie Cup Corporation and move to Easton, Pennsylvania.
Dixie merged with American Can Company in 1957. In 1982, American Can was acquired by the James River Corporation of Virginia, which in 1997 changed its name to Fort James Corporation .