Christmas and Santa Claus

This week's mug will finish our holiday season this year and on Christmas Day, too!  The design shows a snowy, winter's scene of snow covered houses beneath a night time sky fully circling the mug.  Two dark clouds can be seen on the right and left sides of the mug. 

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the clouds clear to reveal the words Merry Christmas in red on the right side of the mug, and Santa Claus in his sleigh on the left side of the mug. 

Color change is quick and the mug is in great condition.


DESIGN:  Full, 2 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Retail Purchase

Denny's Christmas Houses

This week's mug is again from Denny's Restaurants.  This features the matching 'frame' of "Denny's" in blue and red, framing a night time winter scene of houses and a cloudy sky above a set of three dark houses. 

When hot liquid is added, the clouds and houses clear to reveal a new holiday scene. The clouds reveal 5 white doves and the word PEACE in red.  The houses clear to reveal the homes decorated for the holidays.  

The color change is very good, and the mug is in great shape.  

DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE:  Retail Promotional

Denny's Christmas Bear

We're in the middle of a Christmas Mug Month!  4 weeks of Christmas Magic Mugs, each from Denny's Restaurants.  This mug shows a teddy bear with gift tag in front of a large 'wrapped' box marked with stars.  

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the big gift clears to reveal toys: a boat, a ball, a top and a toy duck!  The color change is excellent and the mug is in great condition.


DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional Purchase

Denny's Christmas Duck

In the 1980's Denny's Restaurants created many magic mugs, including this one, which is from a set of 4.  The mug features a Duck wearing a jaunty Santa cap and floating on his way to the South Pole. Astride his back is a frog, also with a Santa cap and carrying a gift.  The water is a dark blue, and the entire thing is framed in alternating colorful DENNY'S.

 When hot liquid is added, the dark blue water clears to reveal that the Duck is standing on a turtle wearing a Santa cap and there are also a couple of fish, also wearing Santa caps!

This is a fun and beautiful mug!  Color change is very good, as the water  you see is a light blue behind the Thermochromatic ink.

DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional

World's Greatest

This week's mug is a Retail Purchase.  It is a full wrap around design of a cityscape drawing with a billboard appearing on the left hand side of the mug.  The billboard has the bright red letters "World's Greatest" above a red area presumably being painted by the worker in the lower right.

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the word LOVER appears in the Red Area.  The color change is good, though not complete, but still a great addition to the collection.

DESIGN:  Full, 1+ Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Retail Purchase

Prudential Westlake

This week's mug is from Westlake Pioneer back in 1982.  On the left side of the mug is a large blue area with the Prudential Logo in the upper center.  (I note that the ink on the mug is blue, and yet somehow the lights I took the pic with made it more purple.  Go figure...)  Beneath the blue area is the name Westlake Pioneer 1982.  

When hot liquid is added to the mug the entire blue area clears to reveal a drawing of a countryside with trees and clouds. 

I am unsure of the history of this mug and can find no connection to "Westlake Pioneer" and Prudential, so I can only guess that it is a merger announcement or an Office's Promotion.  Either way, the color change is good, and the mug is in great condition.

DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color

TYPE: Promotional

Nashville Employee Suggestion Program

This week's mug comes from Nashville (where I live) and is from the city government.  On the left side of the mug is the phrase "GOT AN IDEA?" above a light bulb.  Below the light bulb is the name of the program:

Metro Nashville Government

Employee Suggestion Program. 

When hot liquid is added, the bulb clears to reveal the letters "ESP" for Employee Suggestion Program. The program is part of the city code.  From the city code: "There is established an employee suggestion award program for employees and retired employees of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Under this program, cash or honorary awards may be made to employees of the metropolitan government and retired employees of the metropolitan government whose adopted suggestions will result in substantial savings or improvement in operations of the metropolitan government."  (Odd, no mention of the mug.) 


DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color

TYPE: Promotional

Atlas Copco

This week's mug comes from a local Tennessee company, Atlas Copco.  They make compressors.  The mug features the company's name and logo above a mottled design.

When hot liquid is added, the mottled design clears to reveal a stylized drawing similar to DaVinci's Vetruvian Man.*

As you can see, the mug is, most likely, microwave damaged and the color change no longer works.  The design is excellent and the mug is yet another example of 'what not to do.'


DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional

Children's Ministries

This week's mug is from the Children's Christian Ministries Association.  On the right side of the mug is the line: "A Network for encouraging & Equipping Leaders in Children's Ministries."

On the left side of the mug is a drawing of two kids playing on a set of bars.  Below the bars is a dark rectangle.

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the rectangle clears to reveal the name "Children's Christian Ministries Association."

The mug is in great condition, and the color change is great.  A good example of design flaws in that the mug uses a light blue ink which the thermochromatic ink sort of muddles, even though it is nearly clear.

DESIGN: 1+ Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional

CBS Introduces "Free Spirit"

This week's mug is from ABC Television.  On the left side of the mug is the sentence" "SOMETHING SPECIAL APPEARS THIS FALL..." Above a drawing of a television with a dark screen.  Below it is says "Sundays at 8:00 P.M. (ET) on ABC-TV."

On the right side of the mug is the logo for Columbia Pictures, A unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. 

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the screen on the TV clears to show the logo for the TV Show "Free Spirit."  This show was introduced in the Fall of 1989, so it's easy to date the mug.  In addition, the color change is pretty good, not perfect, but not ruined either.

A great find and addition to the collection

DESIGN:  1+ Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional

Hot Not

This week's mug is a retail purchase I made just this last week. In a local store I spotted this one on the clearance rack and snapped it up!  On the right side of the mug is the word "NOT" in big bold black print. 

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the word changes to show the word "HOT."  A very clever utilitarian use of the Thermochromatic Ink. As you can see, the color change is total!  No remnants of the original design linger.  One of the best I've seen!

Not only is this mug brand spanking new, but it also comes with it's own full color retail box!

DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Retail

Computerworld

This week's mug is from the computer magazine publisher "Computerworld."  On the right side of the mug is the standard Computerworld logo (Yes, it is very plain like that) above the phrase "Celebrating back to the future and beyond..."

On the left side of the mug is a plain drawing of an older style computer with a screen and keyboard combination. The screen is a dark rounded rectangle. 

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the computer screen clears to reveal the words "Enter Password: COMPUTERWORLD"

The mug is in great condition and the color change is near perfect.

DESIGN:  1+ Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotioinal

Intel's MCS-51

This week's mug is from Intel and features the MCS-51.  The MCS-51 was one of Intel's first processors, introduced in 1980.  On the left side of the mug is the question "How many MSC-51 Units Have We Shipped?  Below this (should be) a dark rectangle with the date 'January 1990' and the Intel Logo. 

On the right side of the mug is the phase "The Future is HOT for MCS-51 and another large dark square in the middle.

When hot liquid is added to the mug, the squares clear to reveal "100 Million And Counting" on the left, and a sales chart on the right.  You can see that this is another microwave damaged mug, but it's still a nice addition to the collection.

DESIGN:  2 Sided

THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color

TYPE: Promotional

Saudi Arabian Airlines

This week's mug is from Saudi Arabian Airlines.  The mug features the company logo on both sides above a silhouette of a passenger jet.

When hot liquid is added, the jet clears (on both sides to reveal the phrase "The only non-stops to Saudi Arabia."

The mug has no history, but it's a good guess to say that the mug was given to customers of the airline.  The color change is good, though better on the right side than the left.

DESIGN:  2 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional

Magic Story Wolf

This week's mug is brand spanking new, a 'no-reason' gift from a good friend.  The mug has a black wrap around design with white lines which draw out a wolf standing near some trees.

When hot liquid is added, the entire mug clears to reveal a full color portrait of a wolf in a forest beneath a beautiful, starry sky - moon and all. A wonderful design change and perfectly matched as the white lines actually accent the full color portrait! Beautifully laid out and applied!

The mug is unusual and shall have a place of honor for two different reasons.  One, the mug has not only a rounded square design, it's also wider at the top than at the bottom, like a funnel.  Regular DougsMugs readers will recognize that this is  a rarity! (Only one other mug in my collection has the 'funnel' shape!)  Additionally, you can see that the wrap around design truly wraps around and meets inside the handle.

I couldn't forget to mention that it came in its own clear container!  On the outside it says Magic Story Mug - AND a portion of all purchases go toward the protection of animals in the wild.  A wonderful gift and a great new Magic Story Mug!

DESIGN:  Full, 4 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Retail Purchase

Disney Magazine Publishing

This week's mug is from the Disney Magazine Publishing company.  The name stands at the top of the left side of the mug, above a drawing of a book.  On the left page of the book is a design with "Experience the Magic."  On the right page of the book, is a dark area.  Below the design are the words "Disney Adventures" in blue, "Family Fun" in red, and "Discover" in yellow.

When hot liquid is added, the dark area clears to reveal  Mickey Mouse dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice.  A simple, but effective use of the Magic Ink.  This mug was most likely given out to prospective clients or even advertisers in the Disney Magazines. 

Though the color change is not as good as new, it is still working and one of my personal favorites.

DESIGN:  1 Sided
THERMOCHROMIC: 1 Color
TYPE: Promotional