Go Cup

A “go cup” (or “to-go cup”) is a (usually plastic) cup that one can use to carry a drink out of a restaurant or a bar. New Orleans, Louisiana, has had “go cups” since at least 1977.
 
In 2013, KFC introduced “go cups” for its chicken so that customers could eat from a vehicle’s cup holder.
     
 
Wikitravel: New Orleans
Drink
New Orleans has no “blue laws” or mandatory closing times; there is always somewhere to get alcohol any hour of day or night every day of the year.
 
You can head out the door with an open container of alcohol—but not in a bottle or can; to try to keep broken glass and jagged metal from filling the street, local laws mandate you use a plastic cup while on city streets and sidewalks. These are known locally as “go cups”, and every local bar provides them, usually has a stack of them by the door and the bouncer will take your drink from you and pour it into the cup because bars can be held liable if they don’t. Use them, because New Orleans Police are watching for it, especially on Bourbon Street.
 
12 May 1977, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “Fat City Group Requests Traffic Light at Crossway,” sec. 1, pg. 25, col. 1:
Tabled until the May meeting was a resolution calling on the parish to pass an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of alcoholic beverages on the streets of Fat City in cans, glass containers and plastic “go cups.”
 
26 June 1977, The Sun-Herald (Biloxi, MS), “A Heroic DASH Across U.S. 90” by Vernon Matthews, pg. D-1, col. 2:
They are a hardy bunch, those flip-flop shod tourists in new Izod polo shirts (with the ‘gator on the front), armed with folding chairs, daiquiris in “go cups” and gallons and gallons of sun tan oil.
 
1 November 1977, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “Going Out? Don’t Drink” by Sandra Barbier, sec. 1, pg. 1, col. 2:
Many lounges outside the Quarter already provide plastic or paper “go-cups” for customers; however, nowhere else within the city limits is there as large a concentration of nightspots serving beverages as in the French Quarter.
 
Google Books
Nobody’s Angel
By Thomas McGuane
New York, NY: Random House
1981
Pg. 211:
Couples swarmed past, carrying plastic to-go cups.
   
Google News Archive
16 November 1982, Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal, :Clerk Refuses To Talk: Hearing Held On Fiery Train Derailment” (AP), pg. A5, col. 1:
Kelly M. Sword, cocktail waitress at the hotel, which is also the site of the hearings, later testified that she served Robertson and Reeves one round of drinks and a second round in “go-cups” for consumption outside the premises.
 
Google Books
Heart Mountain
By Gretel Ehrlich
New York, NY: Viking
1988
Pg. 171:
“Let me buy you a drink,” McKay oflered.
“Yea, get three go-cups,” Pinkey chimed in.
 
Google Books
New Orleans Mourning
By Julie Smith
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
1990
Pg. 22:
Skip wondered if the filmmakers would bother to record the prodigious number of kids in fraternity sweatshirts carrying Hurricanes or beers — or even legal go-cups — and barfing all over one another.
 
Business Insider
KFC Invented A Way For Americans To Eat Fried Chicken From The Cupholders Of Their Cars
ASHLEY LUTZ OCT. 1, 2013, 2:07 PM
KFC’s latest promotion allows Americans to eat fried chicken from the cupholders of their cars.
 
The company’s “Go Cups” retail for $2.49 and feature a mixture of potato wedges and a chicken sandwich, chicken tenders, or hot wings, according to Foodbeast.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark GO CUP
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 021. US 002. G & S: CUPS FOR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. FIRST USE: 19860126. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19860126
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 26.17.12 - Angles (geometric); Chevrons
Serial Number 73679458
Filing Date August 17, 1987
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition January 26, 1988
Registration Number 1487592
Registration Date May 10, 1988
Owner (REGISTRANT) PEPSICO, INC. CORPORATION NORTH CAROLINA 700 ANDERSON HILL ROAD PURCHASE NEW YORK 10577
Attorney of Record KEVIN J. HEALY
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “CUP” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date November 14, 1994
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark GO CUP
Goods and Services IC 021. US 002 013 023 029 030 033 040 050. G & S: PLASTIC CUPS FOR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. FIRST USE: 19990305. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19990305
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75545299
Filing Date August 31, 1998
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Date Amended to Current Register October 25, 1999
Registration Number 2354183
Registration Date May 30, 2000
Owner (REGISTRANT) Sweetheart Cup Company Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1700 Old Deerfield Road Highland Park ILLINOIS 60035
(LAST LISTED OWNER) SOLO CUP OPERATING CORPORATION CORPORATION SUITE 150 150 S. SAUNDERS ROAD LAKE FOREST ILLINOIS 60045
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record Linda A. Kuczma
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “CUP” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register SUPPLEMENTAL
Affidavit Text SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20100521.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20100521
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE