The paper cup emerged in the early twentieth century as part of the battle to fight the spread of disease. Before the invention of the paper cup, individuals would often use a common drinking cup placed next to a sink in a school, in a courthouse, or on a train. Legend has it that Kansas doctor Samuel Crumbine (1862–1954) saw a girl with tuberculosis (a contagious disease affecting the lungs) drinking from such a cup and called for the invention of disposable drinking cups. The first such cup was invented in 1904. The disposable drinking cup was perfected in 1908 by Lawrence Luellen, who marketed the "Luellen Cup & Water Vendor," which sold a cup of cold water for a penny.

Luellen's breakthrough invention fused two pieces of paper together with wax, which kept the water from ruining the paper. His water-vending units, soon sold in public places around the...