Twenty-eight mugs. And I don't drink coffee. I counted.
Twenty-eight mugs. That doesn’t include the teacups—I don’t drink tea, either—or the soup cups and bowls with handles that belong to various dishware patterns.
This inventory began with a post from Sharon Robbins Pottery here in Lindsay. Sharon was asking people about their preferences for a few mug designs. Rounded or angular? Which size? Fully glazed, or with some raw clay on the outside?
Simple questions, but they sent me looking at my own cupboard.
I own one of Sharon’s pieces and have long intended to get more as I really appreciate her work. Her post reminded me how much there is to consider in something as familiar as a mug: its shape, its capacity, its texture, how it feels in the hand. And I thought about the mugs she was showing and was literally thinking about how I thought they would each feel in my hand with a warm drink in them. Her post and her question had me considering which I would choose.
A cup can hold a drink. Why does it matter which cup?
Working in the museum sector, I spend a great deal of time around things people have made, chosen, used and kept. Sometimes we know why an object mattered to someone. Sometimes the object survives, but the explanation doesn’t.
Looking at my own mugs, I narrowed the collection down to eight I wouldn’t want to part with. All for different reasons. An unfiltered, un-styled view of my kitchen cabinet with my mugs and glassware. Yes, I need better storage, don't judge me.
Out of the twenty-eight, here are the eight I would keep for sure and why. I am sure that many of our readers can relate.
- Barbie mug... self explanatory and I bought it myself. It's a good size and just makes me smile.
- Sheep mug... this one... part of a Christmas present from my mother the year when everything was about sheep and related to my scrapbooking career with Close To My Heart. There was a team joke about sheep. My mom didn't exactly get the joke, but she saw the mug and thought I would like it. Proof positive that my mother always filed away the tiny details in case she came across just the right thing for my stocking. I love everything about this mug.
- Treat Everyone With Kindness mug... a gift from my daughter. It gets used a lot. Partially for the reminder and practically because it holds an entire can of cream of tomato soup.
- Rose mug... I think this is probably my oldest mug. It was my grandmothers. Slightly smaller, nicely fits in my hand, a slight twist to it and finished with a gold rim detail. Before microwaves and dishwashers. Often this has hot apple cider or a "hot toddy" as she would have called it.
- Campbell's mug... It was in my mother's cupboard and it reminds me of winter lunches with soup in the mug and a toasted egg salad sandwich that sometimes she would make special for me when I was a kid. It's "vintage" but also was probably a give away at the A&P where my dad worked.
- Two Turtledoves mug... I don't use it anymore as the handle was a bit cracked when it came home with me after my mom passed away. There was a Christmas in the mid-90s that I gave my mom the Twelve Days of Christmas as her gift that year. Each day for 12 days, she got to open up a gift that related to the song. This was "Two Turtle Doves". She used it often. Christmas was her thing, and in return, I wanted it to be special for her too.
- Flamingo mug...a dollar store find that weirdly reminds me of my dad. It's a long story and meaningful to me. It has a nice shape and a good weight. Solid. I use it a lot for hot chocolate.
- Garden mug... this one I claimed when my daughter was cleaning out her own mug cupboard. I love the pattern and the shape. Perfect for a homemade cream soup with "toppings". And sometimes I grab it when I want a little bit of salsa and chips. I don't think I have ever put an actual beverage in it, but maybe give it a bit more time.
- Ghost mug image - bonus - a seasonal favourite. I pulled this from my feed because I posted it last year on October 18, 2025 when I was having a little hot chocolate with a big fat marshmallow, while knitting a sweater on a chilly fall afternoon.
The exercise made me think about how many different things we mean when we say we "like" something.
We might enjoy its colour or shape. It might feel comfortable to use. We might admire the maker’s skill, remember receiving it, or associate it with a particular person or time in our lives. We can have several reasons for keeping one object, and quite different reasons for keeping the one beside it.
Sometimes, of course, we simply like it. We don’t need a remarkable story to enjoy drinking from a particular cup.
There is research into these preferences as well. Studies have explored our responses to curved and angular shapes, the role of associations in colour preferences, and how the vessel we drink from can influence our experience of the drink itself. Sharon’s questions touch on subjects that researchers have been investigating for years.
That doesn’t give us a formula for choosing everyone’s favourite mug. It does suggest that what seems like a small preference can have quite a lot behind it.
We express ourselves through everyday choices, sometimes deliberately and sometimes without noticing. We arrange colours in a blanket that could keep us warm with a much simpler design. We choose what goes on our walls. We reach past several perfectly serviceable mugs for the one we want this morning.
And sometimes we keep twenty-eight.
But which of them, if any, would belong in a museum?
For Made By’s accessioned collection—the objects formally accepted for long-term preservation—being attractive, old or personally treasured would not, on its own, be enough. We would ask what an object helps us understand about the people and making of Kawartha Lakes.
A mug might document a local potter’s work, a manufacturing process, a business or a community event. A mug made elsewhere might tell us something about what people here bought, used and valued. Its relevance would depend on the connection and the evidence we could preserve with it.
With a maker’s participation, we could record decisions while they are still being made. Why this shape? Why this finish? What did customers ask for? A finished mug, accompanied by those accounts, could help future visitors understand something about making pottery here, now.
We would also need to consider what it adds to the collection and whether we can care for it properly. We cannot keep everything, which makes thoughtful choices—and good documentation—essential.
My eight keepers earn their place in my cupboard for personal reasons. An object entering Made By’s collection would need a clear connection to the museum’s purpose, with a history we could investigate and share.
Both exercises begin with paying attention. An interview. Research. Finding a rationale.
So, take a look at your own cupboard. Which mug would you be reluctant to part with?
And what would we need to know to understand why?
A little further reading
If you’re curious about the research behind some of our preferences:
- Shape: Curve Appeal: Exploring Individual Differences in Preference for Curved Versus Angular Objects explores differences in people’s responses to curved and angular forms.
- Colour: An Ecological Valence Theory of Human Color Preference investigates the idea that colour preferences are connected to our feelings about things associated with those colours.
- The drinking experience: Beverage Perception and Consumption: The Influence of the Container on the Perception of the Contents reviews research into how drinking vessels influence our experience of their contents.
With thanks to Sharon Robbins Pottery’s post for prompting the cupboard inventory—and the questions.