Why is coffee called "joe"?

pello

New member
Feb 23, 2011
7
0
Atlanta,GA
Visit site
Cup of Joe
Josephus Daniels (18 May 1862-15 January 1948) was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Among his reforms of the Navy were inaugurating the practice of making 100 Sailors from the Fleet eligible for entrance into the Naval Academy, the introduction of women into the service, and the abolishment of the officers' wine mess. From that time on, the strongest drink aboard Navy ships could only be coffee and over the years, a cup of coffee became known as "a cup of Joe".
 

CCafe

Active member
Aug 11, 2004
1,557
2
Des Moines, Iowa
Visit site
Cup of Joe
Josephus Daniels (18 May 1862-15 January 1948) was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Among his reforms of the Navy were inaugurating the practice of making 100 Sailors from the Fleet eligible for entrance into the Naval Academy, the introduction of women into the service, and the abolishment of the officers' wine mess. From that time on, the strongest drink aboard Navy ships could only be coffee and over the years, a cup of coffee became known as "a cup of Joe".

This would be nice to believe but unfortunately that one turns out to be a myth. If your up for a little light reading you can learn more about the theory of the origin of Joe.

snopes.com: Cup of Joe
 

MarkPer

New member
Sep 14, 2012
8
0
Visit site
Hello Community,

In America Coffee has been called many things i.e. Joe, Java, mud, murk and Jamoke. The word Joe for coffee has two seemingly reasonable possibilities. In 1860 a popular song of the times was "old black Joe" written by Stephen C. Foster the same man who wrote "Camp town races" and "Oh! Suzanna". Diners of the time picked up the slang 'Cup O Joe'. Another possible answer could be that Secretary of the Navy, Joseph Daniels banned alcohol from US Navy warships in 1913 and sailors began drinking more and more coffee and calling it 'Joe'.

Best Regards,
Mark Per :coffee:
 

ppkgan

New member
May 9, 2012
87
0
Visit site
Cool never knew that! From what I hear coffee on board a us navy ship is not that good, guess this was not a compliment then. Ha!
 

btreath9082

New member
May 9, 2012
254
0
Visit site
Hello all !
Thanks so much for sharing this great information. I had never heard about the fact that coffee is also called "joe". This is the actual beauty of this forum.....knowledge, information, sharing, fun,......
This forum is amazingly nice.
Thanks indeed !

:star::star::star::star::star:
 

btreath9082

New member
May 9, 2012
254
0
Visit site
"Pello" described something different in reply to why coffee is called "Joe". You can check his reply on the first page of this thread. I got a bit confused now regarding which theory is right? Yours or his? Can you quote any source from where you got your theory? :decaf:
 
Top