Meet N.J.s Pizza Girl, Guinness World Records sauciest memorabilia queen

The Pizza Girl, wearing a blue pizza-dotted dress, pizza-shaped earrings, a pizza necklace and what looks like a slice of pizza on her head, saunters down her driveway to greet me.

The pizza cap isnt real dough and sauce, although you wouldnt put it past Pizza Girl real name, Telina Cuppari to wear an authentic slice.

After all, this is the woman who for her maternity shoot she was seven months pregnant with her daughter, Francesca visited several pizzerias in New York City wearing one of her pizza dresses, posing for photos and scarfing slices, all to the merriment of seen-it-all New Yorkers.

This is the woman who decorated her hospital room with pizza items for the birth of her son, Giacomo. The first thing she ate after giving birth? Need you ask?

She even hosted an event called PizzaPalooza in Kenilworth to collect items for her collection of pizza memorabilia which happens to be the largest such collection in the world.

So says Guinness World Records, which recently recognized Cupparis collection of 669 pizza-related items as the record holder, eclipsing the 561 items amassed by Brian Dwyer, co-founder of Pizza Brain pizzeria in Philadelphia.

Sloosh, the pizza water sprinkler (Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Her collection, housed in the garage of her Kenilworth home, is a dizzying melange of pizza-doughy delight. Pizza-decorated dresses and a pizza dog outfit. Pizza-shaped necklaces and earrings. Sloosh, the pizza-shaped lawn sprinkler. Pizza slippers, pizza boxes and pizza bandages, a pizza makeup kit and a pizza sleeping bag, pizza jigsaw puzzles and pizza videos (Mystic Pizza, naturally), and 230 books on pizza, including several titles in Chris Cavenders pizza-themed mysteries (Pepperoni Pizza Can be Murder, etc.).

I didnt know there were all these pizza games; I have at last 15, she says. Theres a pizza date night theme box, pizza poker, Memoroni (the pizza memory game) …

Theres pizza Pez, pizza gummies, pizza socks, pizza playing cards, a slice-slathered Hot Wheels car, even a Barbie Pizza Chef Playset.

Pizza ornaments, pizza costume for the dog, pizza costumes for the kids, she said, reeling off more items in her collection. Pizza sauce, pizza napkins. A jewelry box filled with pizza necklaces and earrings. Pizza stickers.

The niftiest item in her collection? Maybe the pizza slice holder, which enables you to carry a slice around your neck in a plastic pocket.

Her favorite/most valuable item? A signature, hand-crafted 3D sculpture of Pizza Lips created for her by Canadian artist Laura Richey of Pucker Up Paper Lips.

The collection has even invaded her house: Theres a pizza dining room table cover, pizza calendars and pizza shower curtains.

Pizza-decorated couch and spreads (Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

It all started in 2012 when she moved to New Jersey and started collecting pizza trinkets and shirts because everything was about pizza. In 2015, she spotted a really cute pizza dress online.

I just thought it would fun to wear when I go out and eat pizza, she explained. I received so many compliments that I started to buy pizza accessories and from then on kept collecting more and more items and became the Pizza Girl!

But why pizza?

We it ate so much in my house growing up we used to give the pizza delivery guy a Christmas present every year, Cuppari said. And I have always been fascinated with the different types of pizza from all over the world.

In all my time dressing up in my pizza apparel not once have I heard someone say eww, pizza, she continued. If I was wearing a dress with fish all over it, well, not everyone likes fish. Or Brussels sprouts. But pizza makes a statement. Its so versatile. Pizza is like clothes. Dress it up or dress it down. Go fancy, or just go for your standard cheese.

Being recognized as a Guinness World Records holder is no easy feat. Cuppari, 42, was required to list every item on a spreadsheet, and catalogue every one on video. Witnesses need to submit verified statements; Cuppari enlisted Kenilworths police chief and the owner of Avas Kitchen & Bar, one of her favorite pizzerias. She submitted her application last December, and was notified of the record in August.

Telina Cuppari at Ray's Pizza for her maternity shoot

The California-born Pizza Girl is a former bartender/English teacher/makeup artist/waitress and failed relationships columnist for a Scottish newspaper (you cant make this up) who worked in six countries before moving back to the United States. Her clothes were stolen the day before her flight home. I showed up as an Ellis Island girl, with one outfit.

Desperate for a job, she was contacted by one of her former sorority sisters, who offered her a job as a receptionist at her accounting firm. There she met her future husband, Domenic, an accountant. She convinced him to wear a pizza outfit to the hospital for the birth of Giacomo.

He was, can we please just have a baby? she said, laughing.

I brought the baby home in a pizza (decorated) swaddle,' she added.

Subtle is not her style. If shes going out for pizza, shell wear her pizza dress. Thats not all.

I have taco dresses and ice cream dresses. If Im going out for tacos, Im Taco Girl.

Cuppari is now publisher of TapintoKenilworth, one of Tapintos network of about 90 digital news sites in three states. Shes pretty much a one-person operation, writing nearly all the stories athlete of the week, pet of the week, plus profiles of interesting townsfolk.

Items in Telina Cuppari's pizza collection

Pizza is the worlds most popular food, so it comes as no surprise that Guinness World Records is packed with pizza-related accomplishments. The worlds longest pizza (6,333 feet). The worlds largest pizza (1,265 square meters, including nearly 20,000 pounds of mozzarella). The worlds most expensive pizza ($3,700; it was made for the premiere of Casino Royale in 2007).

The worlds largest collection of pizza boxes? That ones held by Jersey native Scott Weiner, who was a member of our Pizza Patrol team back in 2009. He owns about 1,600 boxes, and counting.

But the Pizza Girls collection stands out for its whimsy and wonder. Theres an annual Guinness World Records book; Cuppari is slated to appear in the 2024 edition. Meanwhile, her collecting continues; she plans to break her own record at some point.

People think Im completely nuts" she said. Thats ok. Pizza makes everyone happy. Its the one food that brings everyone joy."

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Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. On Twitter, https://twitter.com/petegenovese.