What's This?

My daughter and I went to the Minnesota History Center today. We found a very interesting exhibit about a house, located quite near to where I work, that is 118 years old and has been lived in by more than 150 people. This house was built in the middle 19th century by the Schumacher family who immigrated from Germany. This family lived in the house for 15 years or so -- in fact one of their daughters was married in the house.

The neighborhood gradually changed over to Italian immigrants. At this time the house was divided. The left hand half of the home was divided into a upper and lower unit, while the right hand half remained a double story dwelling.  Over time the neighborhood then changed to immigrants from Mexico, and then domestic immigration of African-Americans from the Chicago area, and finally Hmong families.

Now for the question -- what is this? It is a mustache cup, a special cup for a man with a mustache designed to allow him to drink without getting his mustache into the drink. Even though some men these days have mustaches, the mustache cup has disappeared.