Bring Back the Victorian-Era Mustache Mug

You don’t need a mustache to know (and despise) the pesky feeling of coffee or milk splashing onto your upper lip while sipping from a mug. (There’s nothing like looking in the mirror after a work meeting or a date only to realize you’ve had cappuccino foam sitting on your face for a good 30 minutes.) The fact that there are no precautions in place to prevent this nuisance might be one of the greatest drinkware design flaws of our time. Well, apparently mug designers of the Victorian era were living in the future, as they had specialty “mustache cups” specifically crafted to protect your lip as you sip.

In the 19th century, well-groomed mustaches were all the rage in facial hair. Clean-shaven faces were the standard to a certain point, but there was a shift when British colonial forces made their way to India, where mustaches were a sign of male status. British military members started to grow mustaches, and eventually in response to “the mustache movement” the government passed new military regulations allowing the 16th Lancers of the Queen’s Army to have mustaches, as long as the rest of their face was shaved.

Once mustache mania made its way into mainstream British fashion, there were certain standards of facial hair etiquette that men were expected to abide by. In the Victorian era, this typically meant using wax to tame the unruly hairs. The downside? Hot tea — the U.K.’s perennially popular go-to beverage — would melt the wax, leading to droopy, out-of-shape ‘staches.

British potter Harvey Adams saw this dilemma as an opportunity and created what was later deemed the “mustache cup.” This design included a small, mustache-shaped ceramic insert that blocks the liquid, leaving a gap just large enough for the tea to flow through to the drinker’s mouth. This shield helped preserve the most well-kept facial hair and became a popular accessory for mustachioed men. Though Adams is widely credited with this invention, there are examples of this type of cup found across the globe, including examples in Canada and the U.S.

When the mustache fell out of favor during World War I, it seems like society forgot all about the mustache mug. Now we only have the relics of Victorian-era cups that can be found in history books and museums — a major setback in mustache-protection technology.

Though most people aren’t walking around with waxed mustaches in 2025, we’d like to make a bid to bring back this innovative form of glassware. In the umpteenth wave of modern coffee culture, when every drink is topped with a heaping dollop of cold foam or a layer of cream, wouldn’t now be the optimal time to protect our upper lips?

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