Followers of the Bach Seat know that coffee is vital to life. And while there and many ways to have a coffee – drip, cold brew, cappuccino, Irish, lattes, macchiato, mochas, even worse – iced mochas. And many places to get your coffee from home, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or the best – Tim Horton’s to get your morning pick-me “cup of joe.”
Why do we call our morning pick-me a “cup of Joe?” There are a number of theories why it’s “Joe.” The first theory dates back to 1898 when according to Driftaway Coffee‘s blog, Martinson Coffee trademarked the term “cup of joe.” Martinson Coffee was founded in New York in 1898 by Joe Martinson. The author speculates that the coffee may have locally been called “Joe’s coffee” or a “cup of joe.” As the company grew, “cup of joe” could have expanded from a local nickname to a more widely used term by the 1930s
Brooke Nelson at Readers Digest says the most popular origin story goes back to Josephus Daniels during World War I. Mr. Daniels was appointed Secretary of the U.S. Navy during World War I by President Woodrow Wilson.
Mr. Daniels, a teetotaler, and vehement white supremacist imposed General Order 99 that prohibited alcohol aboard U.S. Navy ships on June 01, 1914. According to this theory, the loss of easy access to booze aboard U.S. Navy ships led to increased coffee consumption by sailors. The sailors sarcastically called it their new beverage “a cup of Josephus” in honor of the man who had banned their booze. The snarky name stuck and eventually turned into “a cup of Joe” for short.
Ms. Nelson concludes that this origin story for “cup of Joe” is amusing, but probably not true. She points out that the term “cup of Joe” only appears in writing for the first time in 1930—long after the Navy’s alcohol ban. Barbara Mikkelso at Snopes.com also points out that U.S Navy ships had been officially dry for enlisted men since the spirit ration was abolished in 1862.
Another theory is that “Joe” refers to the average man and is often used as slang for “fellow, guy, or chap.” Snopes reports this usage dates to 1846 and is still present today. “Joe” is used to describe a typical guy who is interchangeable with any other guy:
- “G.I. Joe,”
- “Joe Blow,” or
- “Average Joe.”
So “cup of joe” could be another way of saying “the common man’s drink.”
Another origin story holds that “joe” is a mash-up of two other slang words for coffee “java” and “mocha.” The mash-up led to “jamoke,” which combines the words “java” and “mocha.” Eventually “cup of jamoke” was shortened down to a “cup of Joe.” People do love to shorten their slang terms, after all.
Snopes says jamoke is the best theory for morphing into joe. The British etymologist Michael Quinion found an early documented example from 1931 in the Reserve Officer’s Manual by a man named Erdman:
‘Jamoke, Java, Joe. Coffee. Derived from the words Java and Mocha, where originally the best coffee came from.’”
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So, where did this nickname really come from? No one knows for sure. No matter what you call it (or how you take it!), you can always count on a cup of joe to help you function in the morning.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
