Robert Hulseman, 84, Red Solo Cup inventor
CHICAGO — Robert Hulseman, who in the 1970s invented the Red Solo Cup for family picnics only to see it embraced as the go-to beverage holder at college keg parties and football tailgates — and even the inspiration for a country music party hit — has died. He was 84.
The former president and chief executive of his family’s Solo Cup Co. died at his home in Northfield, Ill., on Dec. 21 of health complications following a series of strokes, his son Paul Hulseman told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The younger Hulseman said his father never fully understood how massively popular the large red plastic cup became in pop culture. He said the cup was intended for families and recalled being about 10 years old when he and his siblings helped their father choose the cup’s first…