The multi-faceted artist designer and architect Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures of postwar American design. His work exuded a sensuous playfulness that had been absent from the austere aesthetic of classic modernism.

As an interior designer Girard created a number of concepts for restaurants that went beyond color schemes and furnishings to encompass such details as menu cards matchboxes tableware and napkins. The motifs featured on the Coffee Mugs have their origins and inspiration in the rich diversity of these environments.