Why do people call a cup of coffee a "cup of joe"?

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Coffee and tea

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	Why do people call a cup of coffee a "cup of joe"? By banannie Asked Feb 9 2005 9:45AM	27 Pts Rate Question

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Answer 11 out of 17

by vonnegutfan on Feb 23, 2005 at 9:21 am Permalink

I don't know if it's the earliest reference, but in Kurt Vonnegut novel (I forget which one!), he refers to a cafe near the Kennedy home (Hyannisport?) where all the dishes are named after a member of the Kennedy clan, and of course coffee is named after old Joe Kennedy. So is this the origin, or was Kurt cribbin?

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Alonzo Garbonzo Mar, 30 2005 at 04:26 PM

Find out the book and report back.

Anonymous Answerbag Sep, 30 2005 at 10:50 AM

It is actually a Naval termafter Josephus Daniels, the leader of the modern Navy since 1913-

Answer 12 out of 17

by Anonymous on Jun 19, 2007 at 8:43 pm Permalink

cause cup of fred was taken!

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Answer 13 out of 17

by chef11425 on Mar 4, 2009 at 12:59 pm Permalink

OK all you seaman out there stop it.
The ARMY started it way before you guys even started to float a turd.
It comes from " Give me a cup of (JOLT OF ENERGY) joe"

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Answer 14 out of 17

by Anonymous on Jan 28, 2009 at 6:43 pm Permalink

"Cup of joe" comes from Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy who banned the serving of alcohol on ships in 1914, the phrase is known to predate his service.

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Answer 15 out of 17

by Anonymous on Sep 24, 2008 at 2:34 pm Permalink

For another theory (possibly dubious, except in the minds of ad people), connected to Joe Martinson of Martinson's Coffee, see the following link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1300410

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Answer 16 out of 17

by Isaac G on Aug 3, 2008 at 10:49 pm Permalink

During WWI Admiral and Naval Secretary Josphus "Joe" Daniels banned the regular use of alcohol on his ship and forced his crew to have coffee as an alternate. The coffee alternate became known by the crew and later mainstream as a "cup of joe"

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Answer 17 out of 17

by Kilroy on Jun 3, 2008 at 12:49 am Permalink

While it all sounds like fun, the true origin (yes I was there, yes I'm old)was from word games that were very popular in the 30's and 40's "give us some java Joe" because it rolled off the tongue, it became the phrase of choice and the chuckle was that it didn't matter if the servers name wasn't Joe .. and it became cute to shorten it to give us some, Joe ... then just give me a cup of Joe.

Yours truly
Kilroy

Post Script:
Keep in mind we called Germans, Gerry and the Asians/Chinese, Charlie. Word play continued past WWII ... Joltin Joe DiMaggio and jumping Joe DiMaggio, think it's safe to say it still is an American pastime to play with words.

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