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The essential idea of a food container has been around for a very long time, but it wasn't until people began using tobacco tins to haul meals in the early 20th century, followed by the use of lithographed images on metal, that the containers became a staple of western youth, and in turn, a marketable product in the eyes of manufacturers. The lunch box has historically most often been used by schoolchildren to carry a prepared meal to school. The most common modern form is a small case with a clasp and handle, often printed with a colorful image that can either be generic or based on children's television shows or films. Use of lithographed metal to produce lunch boxes in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s gave way in the 1990s to use of injection-molded plastic. Lunch kits are comprised of the actual "box" and a matching vacuum bottle. However, pop culture has more often embraced the singular term lunch box, which is now most commonly used.
HistoryThe lunch box is a relatively new addition to American pop culture. In 1950, Aladdin Industries created the first children's lunch box based on a television show, Hopalong Cassidy. The Hopalong Cassidy lunch kit, or "Hoppy," as it is also called, was Aladdin's "box" of gold. Debuting in time for back-to-school 1950, Hoppy would go on to sell 600,000 units in its first year alone, each at a modest $2.39 USD. Aladdin Industries moved to Nashville, Tennessee from its home in Chicago, and literally built their new headquarters with the Hoppy profits. Children's lunch boxes were around before, however. In 1935, Geuder, Paeschke and Frey produced the first licensed character lunch box, Mickey Mouse. This was not the lunch box that we came to know and recognize today, however. It was basically a lithographed oval tin, with a pull-out tray inside. It had no vacuum bottle, but did have a handle. No sales figures are available as to how many units were sold. While television was growing leaps and bounds during the 1950s, lunch box manufacturers now had something to sell to kids. Other manufacturers include ADCO Liberty, American Thermos (later King Seeley Thermos, or KST), Kruger Manufacturing Company, Landers, Frary and Clark (Universal), Okay Industries, and host of other producers through the 1980s. Over the years, the lunch box has been manufactured using various materials. Originally all steel, the lunch box migrated to plastics over time. The first use of plastics accounted for the lunch box handle, but later spread to the entire box, with the first molded plastic boxes produced during the 1960s. Vinyl lunch boxes debuted in 1959, which were geared more towards girls, with the "purse-like" feel to them, and with themes like Bobby Soxer, Ponytails, and Pen Pals.
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