Lunch box history

With kids heading back to school this week, I thought we would pull an interesting article out of the archive. Most people of a certain era can remember carrying their favorite character lunchbox to school. Lunchboxes today are basically soft sided cooler bags that may or may not have a design on them.

The first lunchboxes were carried by factory workers in the 1880’s and were made of tin with a wire handle. Carrying a tin lunch box back then had a stigma attached to it because folks that carried their lunch were considered too poor to buy a hot lunch. This stigma began to disappear around the turn of the century as the United States became an industrial power house and many workers began to carry their lunches to work because they appreciated the home cooked lunches packed by their loved ones.

Children often emulate their parents and children began to carry “miniature” versions of the metal lunchbox to school to for lunch time. Blame it on Disney who was the first company to put a character on a child’s commercially produced lunchbox in 1935. This lunchbox was an oval metal lunch can with metal handles and featured color Disney cartoons that were popular in that time period. These metal lunchboxes looked like miniature picnic baskets.

Many different companies such as Aladdin produced the metal lunchboxes and the “thermos” was added to keep liquids hot or cold in the 1920s. Lunchbox popularity

Exploded in the 1950’s and these metal stamped lunchboxes were usually dome topped with a plastic handle. Television was new in the 1950’s and all the cartoon characters from that time appeared on the lunchbox.

The era I most remembered was the 1960’s and 1970’s. Not only television characters but also popular musicians began to appear on the lunchboxes such as the Beatles and the Monkees just to name a few. These boxes were now produced in the square style resembling a small square metal suitcase with a metal clasp. Some of these lunchboxes also were embossed for a 3-D effect. Many 1960’s boxes featured space related topics.

In 1983 lunchboxes began to lose their appeal with children and the lunchboxes were made of plastic with a paper decal which to me really looked cheap and did not hold up well. Many children through the years would be classified as “cool” or “dorky” depending on what character was on your lunchbox! Of course as an adult you may now wish you still had your old lunchbox as some of them have become quite valuable! Certain desirable vintage lunchboxes command hundreds of dollars at auction if they have their original thermos and are in good condition! Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 31 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com

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