Viral Stanley cup brand rooted in Berkshires

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass, (NEWS10) -- The internet craze that is Stanley cups might hit a little closer to home than you think. The thirst-quenching company got its start in the Berkshires, specifically Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Stanely cups, not to be confused with the trophy coveted by National Hockey League players, are all-steel vacuum flask drink containers that come in all different sizes and colors. The company took the recent holiday season by storm with its products flying off the shelves.

According to Stanley's website, on September 2, 1913, inventor William Stanley Jr. patented his idea for a vacuum-sealed thermos because he wanted to keep his coffee warm all day while at work. According to the Berkshire Home Historian, the original Stanley Cups were invented and manufactured in Great Barrington, Massachusetts from 1913 to circa 1933.

According to the Berkshire Home Historian, the Stanley Insulating Company had employed up to nearly 150 workers making Stanley cups, flasks, thermoses, and more using Stanley Jr.'s innovative design. Stanley's website says he fused vacuum insulation and the strength of steel into one portable bottle, making it all possible.

According to Stanley's website, they were first, and still are, marketed as durable bottles built to last. Additionally, the Stanley Thermos was even used by pilots in World War II.

The Berkshire Home Historian says the new thermos-style bottles were made at the Stanley facility on Church and River Streets in Great Barrington. Around 1933, the Stanley production moved out of Great Barrington entirely.

William Stanley, Jr. died on May 14, 1916. Stanley's son, Harold Stanley, would go on to found the financial firm Morgan Stanley alongside Genry Sturgus Morgan, J.P. Morgan's grandson.