Details/History of the Moose Mugs

SPIRITED / CHRISTMAS VACATION MOOSE MUGS
by CanadianMoose.com.

Since 1989, we are the original Moose Mug.  Handmade in the USA.  Accept no imitations!

Just a quick note to keep you informed on the "State of the Union" ('Moose Mugs' style).

So popular have our Moose Mugs become that several companies now offer cheap (price and quality) imported imitations or "knock offs."  We apologize for all the confusion these imitations have created.

The market is now flooded with 'copy cat' imitation Moose Mugs, made with everything from plastic, to acrylic, to cheap China glass.  Vendors are giving away 'free this and free that.'  Vendors are making comments about being 'officially licensed,' 'patented,' and more.  New designs and junky trinkets are showing up.  The list goes on and on and on . . .

All we can say, to all of this, is please be careful of what you purchase: "You only get what you pay for."   If you buy a product of hand-made quality, from a reputable local source, the product will last for years.  When you skimp on price, the quality suffers.  This is Economics 101.

If you get 'Factory Direct,' you get 'mass production.'  Remember, exclusivity has its rewards.  When there are only a few, of any one item, that item's value will be higher.  When thousands of that item exist, the value is diminished considerably, as there are many, many similar copies out there.  We hand-make our Moose Mugs, in small numbers, in a series.

Unlike the imitations, our CanadianMoose.com Moose Mugs will not end up as 'garage sale' items, in 10 years.

If you are interested, please see our 'Customer Comments' page, to read comments, submitted by our customers.  Some even compare our authentic glass CanadianMoose.com Moose Mugs, to one of the other ('licensed'versions being sold (with their antlers being GLUED on).

CanadianMoose.com has been in business since 1999 and we are the exclusive world-wide distributor for our beautiful authentic glass Spirited / Christmas Vacation Moose Mugs, which are still the only ones hand-made, by the original artist, in the USA, since 1989!

IF it is important to you that you purchase ONLY the authentic Moose Mugs, that continue to be made ONLY by the original artist (who created these for the "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" movie and for the "Spirited" movie), then you've come to right place.  There was only 1 Picasso and his paintings continue to increase in value.  Our glassblower will not be making these beautiful Moose Mugs forever. 

You've seen the rest, now get the best!

Have a great day!

Dan Herauf, owner
CanadianMoose.com

(We are a small company but we are large on product quality and customer service.  All things willing, we'll be here for many years more, to serve you, our wonderful customer!)

 

 

Here's the original Moose Mugs story...

Since 1999, we've had many inquiries from customers who have been searching for glass moose mugs (eggnog cups, reindeer glasses, steins, bowls, . . . whatever!) like those that were featured in the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989), by Warner Bros. Studios.    The glass moose mugs were in the shape of a moose head - they had antlers on either side (for handles) and had a moose snout and eyes.

In the movie, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his cousin Eddie Johnson (Randy Quaid) drank eggnog from glass moose-shaped mugs (at Clark's house, during the Christmas holidays).

The glass mugs were probably a throw-back (a 'string' is another word for linking movies together) to the original movie "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983).  While on summer holiday, the Griswold family visited the theme park "Walley World" and were probably meant to have acquired the glass mugs there.  The moose connection was probably to "Marty Moose", the "Walley World" mascot, whom Clark 'punched out,' at the entrance to the theme park.


Many customers have asked us
 "Why do your Moose Mugs look slightly different from the ones in the 'Christmas Vacation' movie?"

Through Warner Bros., we have determined that these glass mugs were "props" only, fashioned specifically for movie filming and those mugs all broke during the filming of the movie.  Lack of strength was a big issue.  The original mugs were probably designed by some boardroom executive, not a glassblower or engineer (who actually knows something about product strength and stress points).

Alas, the original glass mugs were never produced for consumer use 

BUT...

Due to a demand for glass moose-shaped mugs, by tourists and movie buffs as well, we have found the original artist, who made the mugs for the movie, back in 1989.  Due to strength issues of the original mugs design, our glassblower has made some changes (thicker 'stem,' stronger antlers, goblet shape/strength), and come up with our own stronger version of the glass vessels.  Yes, they are slightly different from the movie but they are made to last a long, long time.  Be careful of any drinking glasses with thin stems (glass, plastic, or acrylic).  They snap off quite easily.

 

Our Moose Mugs are ready to go!!

You are probably asking "What do your glass Moose Mugs cost . . .?"

Please read on! . . .

Cost Solution 1: Back in 1999, to get these glass Moose Mugs down to a nice cheap price would be a simple process: pay a large glass manufacturer USD$100,000 for a complicated mold and then buy 200,000 Moose Mugs from the same manufacturer over the next 2 years.  No problem!
Big problem!  Based on the feedback from our wonderful customers, the demand for these glass Moose Mugs numbers in the hundreds, not hundreds of thousands!  That demand does not justify implementing Cost Solution 1.  Also, to keep the price down, we would have to look to overseas producers.  There have been lots of problems with dangerous chemicals in products from overseas.

No biggie, let's continue! . . .

Cost Solution 2: Find smaller glass producers who can hand-produce the glass Moose Mugs, with higher quality than the large manufacturers, but in smaller numbers.  The costs are slightly higher but at least we can get the glass Moose Mugs produced.  High quality, safe to use, long lasting value.

We have done that!

Check out our CanadianMoose.com history!

1989/12/01: Warner Bros. Studios "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" movie premieres, showcasing our now famous 'Moose Mugs.'  Our glassblower artist hand-made only a dozen of the 'first series' Moose Mugs, from his glass studio, in California.

1999/09/30: CanadianMoose.com, Inc. opens for business.

2000/07/25: www.CanadianMoose.com website is launched (selling handmade wooden bowls and metal toilet paper roll holders, among other things.  The toilet paper roll holders didn't sell so well).

2000/12/06: First request (of very many): "Based on your 'Moose' named company (CanadianMoose.com), do you have the moose eggnog cups/mugs from the "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" movie?"
(Dan, CanadianMoose.com's owner's first thought:  "No one will buy those."  (Boy, was he wrong!!))

2001/05/16: Research discussions were had with Warner Bros. 'Props' department.  All the 'first series' Moose Mugs were broken, during filming of the "Christmas Vacation" movie.

2001/05/22: Development of the 'Eggnog Cups' / 'Moose Mugs' models starts.

CanadianMoose.com had 2 different models in production, basically with 2 different methods of production.

CanadianMoose.com set the standards, that the other 'Moose Mugs' 'replicas' are following:
- we chose the new product names: 'Moose Mugs' and 'Eggnog Cups' (as 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2' were unfortunately already taken (by Dr. Seuss' "Cat In The Hat")).
- we had the antlers 'angled' back, for better balancing of the mug.
- we had the 'stem' made thicker, for added strength.
- we
 had the goblet shape changed, to strengthen the goblet.
we set the purchase minimum to be 2 'Moose Mugs,' as you should never drink alone! (Update 2011/03/22: Apparently, a lot of people only want to purchase 1 'Moose Mug' so we obliged!)

2001/08: 1st set of glass 'Eggnog Cups' is shipped (made by a glassblower in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada).
1st set (and many others) arrives - all cups are broken in the mail (arrived as beautiful boxes of glass pieces.  These were our famous broken glass 'Mexican Maraca' models).  Much wailing and gnashing of teeth, at head office.  Telephone death threats.  Don't open the door!

2001/09: MUCH, MUCH MORE research and development on 'how to pack & safely ship' glass is needed (and done!).  Eventually, we settle on enough sponge rubber to break the fall of a small planet.  In fact, the 'Eggnog Cups' boxes were the size of small planets.....really!

2001/10: 1st set of glass 'Moose Mugs' (version 1) is shipped (and arrives safely).  Much cheering and rejoicing!  These 'Moose Mugs' were made by a glassblower (originally from Mexico), in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

2001 - 2004: 4 years of Thanksgiving/Christmas 'moose' rushes, with lots of customer attempts to 'jump to the front of the ordering line.'
Bribery - didn't work; cajoling - didn't work; sad stories - OK, that worked a couple of times!
We did lots of radio, TV, and newspaper interviews: who knew there were that many silly Christmas Vacation movie fans out there?!
Plenty of late nights, packing mugs, trying to get all orders done in time for the courier truck the next morning.  Sleep was optional in those days!

2005/01/10: The original artist (who made the original 'Moose Mugs,' as props for the movie, back in 1989) is finally found and contacted (in the USA) (we think he was hiding from us!). 
Discussions begin to redevelop the 'Moose Mugs' ('swifter, higher, stronger').

Our glass artist also made Cinderella's glass slipper, in "The Grace Kelly Story," starring Cheryl Ladd (1983) and the spectacles worn by Danny Kaye in Disney's 25th Anniversary special (1980).
Our glass artist performed at Disneyland, from 1977 - 1988, as the professional glass artist.

Due to the immense popularity of our 'Moose Mugs' (that are now being produced by the original artist), in:
2005/04: The 'Moose Mugs' (version 1) are officially retired (now available as Collector's items only).
2005/05: The 'Eggnog Cups' are officially retired (now available as Collector's items only).

2005/05: 1st set of authentic, original, glass 'Moose Mugs' (version 2, these now made by the original artist) is shipped.

2006/07: 1st set of matching glass 'Punch Bowl Antlers' are shipped (also made by the original artist).  We introduced the matching 'Punch Bowl Antlers,' due to customer demand (even though there were no antlers, on the punch bowl, in the 'Christmas Vacation' movie.  Give the people what they want!).

(now fast forward JUST A FEW years . . . . !)

2021/08/05: CanadianMoose.com was contacted (by Lisa Nagid and Torri Anders) to provide Moose Mugs for filming of the Apple TV+ movie "Spirited" (a musical version of the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol") starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, directed by/director Dean Anders.  Filming was taking place in Braintree, MA, USA.  Of course, we obliged!

2022/11/11: The amazing Apple TV+ "Spirited" movie premieres (including some huge musical numbers), featuring the wonderful Moose Mugs from CanadianMoose.com!  Movie #2.  30+ years later.  Here we go again!  Get your authentic Moose Mugs early!

Today, the formula is finally correct:
we have the original artist (a professional glassblower),
we have hand-made quality,
we have "made in the USA,"
we have FREE Shipping in the USA,
we have FREE Shipping to Canada,
we have the best design,
we have highest quality GLASS,
we have the best customer service,
our 'Moose Mugs' ship within a day, no pre-ordering, no waiting - everything you want in a quality product!

After many sets of original, authentic, genuine CanadianMoose.com 'Moose Mugs' later, with many, many happy, satisfied customers, all we can say is it's been a long run and we are definitely looking forward to the future!!!  To help us avoid more nights with little sleep, please order early in the season.  Thanks!

Dan Herauf, owner
CanadianMoose.com, Inc.

Update: as with all products of quality, the copy cat 'pretenders' have now shown up.  The CanadianMoose.com 'Moose Mugs' design has now been duplicated (but not matched in quality and value) in cheap China glass, plastic, and acrylic.

We approve of the flattery of the imitations but ask you to please beware of 'replicas' - you always lose quality when you go for cheaper prices.

If you are confused by the multitude of lesser quality products you see out there, try 'the one, the only,' the authentic CanadianMoose.com Spirited / Christmas Vacation Moose Mugs.  You will be happy you did!  Have a great day!