History of cup holders in cars?

[TJ Hopland]

Why did it take so long to 'invent' cup holders for cars?   Or did it?  Was that a thing that used to exist but then fell out of favor for a while?    I remember 60's and 70's cars that had the tiny recesses on the glove box cover that I assume were meant to hold cups.   Did anyone ever use them?   In the 70's I remember being able to buy things that hooked in the window to hold drinks so apparently there was a demand for such things. 

It would seem like a thing like this would have been needed even more in the past than it is now.  Before what the mid 80's or 90's having a bottle with a re closable cap wasn't very common.  These days its pretty common to have something with a screw on cap so its not that big a deal to take a drink, put the cap back on and lay it on the seat or wherever.  I suppose before that there were containers like Thermos that had some sort of caps on them. 

[Jeepers Creepers]

"I remember 60's and 70's cars that had the tiny recesses on the glove box cover that I assume were meant to hold cups."

I think those were only ever meant to be used at the drive-in movies, they're useless if ya moving.

When our Caddy arrived from the USA, it had this cup holder in it.
Whilst it is a plastic/timber unit, its a really old looking plastic.
Certainly much newer than the car, but its great for carrying 2 drinks, a mobile phone etc.

Not the perfect cup holder by a long shot, but hey, it works and it doesn't tip over.
It just sits over the trans tunnel and sits there quite snug.
The little MP3 player on the dash is long gone these days too.

[76eldo]

First Caddy I had with a cup holder was a 90 Deville.
It flipped up and out of the center armrest.

[Dan LeBlanc]

The Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager in 1983 were the first vehicles to have production cupholders as standard.  Remember, Drive-Thru windows were only starting to become commonplace around that time.

[Cadillac Fleetwood]

First Caddy I had with a cup holder was a 90 Deville.
It flipped up and out of the center armrest.

My 1989 Fleetwood has the same flip-out center armrest cup holder. The glove box lid has two shallow depressions which were designed to hold beverage containers, but would be of no use when the car was in motion. People who see and ride in my Fleetwood will marvel at its features, including the beautiful genuine wood, the leather, the bright accents, and the digital dash, and then spend the rest of the conversation berating the car (and its allegedly short-sighted designers)  for its lack of cup holders!

-Charles Fares

[TJ Hopland]

The 90 Deville is one of the things that got me wondering about it.   Looking around that car it had a lot of features that became pretty common but at first I didn't think it had a cupholder.  Later I saw it mentioned in the owners manual and then found it broken under one of the seats. 

Interesting about the Caravan.  I'm trying to remember if I ever noticed that.  I wonder if that was a van or maybe a Chrysler thing?   Seems like I remember 80's full size vans having them in the 'doghouse'.  The first van I remembered did happen to be a dodge. 

[Alan Harris CLC#1513]

Henry Ford's last personal car is on display in the garage of his former home. It is a 1942 Ford coupe which was modified to look like a 1946. It has leather upholstery, a telephone, a reclining passenger seat and a holder for Mr. Ford's water bottle. Henry never went anywhere without a bottle of Poland Spring Water. I have often wondered if this was the first "cup holder" in the modern sense.

My parents bought a new 1959 Mercury convertible that had a glove box with a lid that opened up flat and had indentation on the inside of the lid which matched the size of cup bottoms. My sister and I were amazed at the "cup holders" because we had never seen anything like them before. They were obviously not for use in a moving car, but were for use at drive-ins.

My 1986 Sedan DeVille did not have cupholders, but my father's 1989 Sedan DeVille did.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

My sister and I were amazed at the "cup holders" because we had never seen anything like them before. They were obviously not for use in a moving car, but were for use at drive-ins.

And don't forget that in some countries, like Australia, it is illegal for the driver to eat and drink whilst driving.   With the drinking part, there is no delineation between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Bruce.

[V63]

1957 Eldorado brougham offered the ‘drink cups’ and a magnetized serving tray! BYOB however!

[Jason Edge]

"I remember 60's and 70's cars that had the tiny recesses on the glove box cover that I assume were meant to hold cups."

I think those were only ever meant to be used at the drive-in movies, they're useless if ya moving.

Here's a picture of that Drive-In or perhaps Diner "cup holder on the back of the glove box door from a 1964 Cadillac. Funny thing is a few of the 1963/64 Cadillacs I have brought in over the years didn't even had this, just a flat surface. Guess even that was new for those years … or perhaps different  source for the door backs.