A Sip Back in Time Until the 20th century there were public fountains water barrels pumps and wells around cities for people to drink from with a metal wooden or ceramic cup everyone shared. As Americans learned about germs however they began thinking of alternative drinking arrangements. In 1907 Lawrence Luellen developed what he called the single use “Health Kup” (renamed the Dixie cup in 1919). In 1918 a worldwide Spanish flu epidemic killed over 50 million people. In theUS nearly one in three people were infected. Suddenly everyone was very anxious about germs and disposable cups caught on like never before. They’ve been around ever since.