Manufacturer: Walker China
User: Kupie Lunch
Date of mug: 1947
Date of plate: 1946

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Notes: Much of the history of Kupie Lunch, and also Hick's Drive-In, can be sourced from a 1956 Court of Appeals of Kentucky divorce case: Hicks v. Hicks. Daynon W. Hicks and Mary F. Hicks married on May 13, 1947, and from the case we find that until 1950, Daynon owned Kupie Lunch at Fifth and Walnut streets in downtown Louisville. Two weeks after the marriage, Daynon opened Hick's Drive-In Restaurant on Dixie Highway, and during this time Mary managed Kupie Lunch until it was sold in 1950.

In the book "Lost Restaurants of Louisville," the authors assert that Daynon opened Kupie lunch around 1940. The first mention we found of Kupie's Lunch was a help wanted ad for a white waitress at Kupie Lunch Room at 504 W. Walnut, and it was dated Feb. 19, 1938.

It is not known who bought Kupie's after Daynon sold it, but the last ad found for the restaurant, shown above, was in the April 19, 1958 issue of the Courier-Journal: "All the FRIED CHICKEN you can eat!" The address was listed as 456 So. 5^th. Shown above are two matchbooks that corroborate these locations; it is believed it was one business that moved during the 20 years or so it was in operation.

Walker's Toltec tan-bodied mug depicts a Kewpie doll on skis with the words Kupie and Lunch on brown banners. (Kewpie is a trademarked name and that might be the reason the restaurant was named Kupie.)

Sources:
Hicks v. Hicks
"Lost Restaurants of Louisville," by Stephen Hacker and Michelle Turner
Louisville Courier-Journal

Contributors:
ID and 456 S 5th Street matchbook: Kathleen Lathom
Mug photos: Susan Phillips