I don’t know much about Buckskin Bill other than his last name was Black and he had a TV show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that began every episode with the greeting “Chickama Scouts!”. He was famous for saying things like “Remember, you’re never completely dressed until you put on a smile.”. For whatever else he did, Buckskin Bill certainly knew how to make a good-looking coffee mug, this particular one manufactured by Esco in Japan.
I drink my coffee so light I was elated to find this “coffee milk” mug that I thought finally honored my choice of coffee hues, cranking the brown down so low it’s almost white. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve gone to where assistants ask if I’d like coffee and how I like it made. It doesn’t matter how many beige walls, tan pillows or cream colored file folders I point at to give reference, the coffee always comes back looking like watery deep brown shoe polish. So I live with my coffee deprived of its proper lightness and had high hopes when I found this mug that I thought justified my preference.
But alas, upon closer inspection I realized that Buckskin Bill’s intention was to create a mug for EITHER coffee OR milk as opposed to promoting a blend of the two. But I’ll take the mug any way I can get it, preferring to honor my interpretation of it in hopes that someone else may join me in a cup of milk, or in my case half and half, with a little coffee.
danielle!
this is my new favorite blog!
I LOVE IT!!!
veni
hi allee! when i was like 6 or so, i went on the buckskin bill show (http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?s=5525752) with my brownie group. very exciting stuff! all the kids in baton rouge would bring pennies to buy an elephant for the new zoo. bill is still doing nice things for the city tho not in buckskins anymore.
morning treat probably sponsored his show. they began as a local outfit 30 miles or so upriver of baton rouge. http://www.morningtreat.com.
i’ve never seen this cup. a real bit of kitsch treasure i’d say!
veni
p.s. cafe au lait is a very popular way to take ones coffee down here! so you may not be far off of your assumptions…
Allee
@Veni – Love hearing that you were on the Buckskin Bill show! And how happy am I to hear that Morning Treat, a coffee company, sponsored a kids show! That makes me love it even more.
I will have to make it down to Baton Rouge one day. I think I will probably need sedation.
@danielle! – Thanks!
Karen
hi, i was on the buckskin bill show when i was little and i presented a favorite book. where in the world did you find that mug?!?! i would love to get one too.
coming from a cajun background, that’s how our maman (grandmother) served coffee for us kids. we weren’t allowed to have full strength coffee because it would stunt our growth or put hair on our chests! ha ha! and to this day, i can’t take coffee any other way than “coffee milk”.
Allee
I love that! What favorite book if you present to Buckskin Bill?
I found the mug on eBay. $6.99.
I love that I found validation for drinking “coffee milk” from someone at the source!
Rick
Coffee milk is what we drink in Louisiana as children. Little coffee and lot of milk. No Ritalin then !!!!!!!! 🙂