Metal School Lunchbox

I had this one. I was in first or second grade and wasn't a fan of King Kong. It may have been a hand-me-down from my brothers or maybe mom bought it because it was on sale.

After I gave it up, my Dad used it to store some tools or nails or whatever. So most of my memories of this thing are seeing a rusted version on the tool bench in the garage.

I had a Flintstones lunch box until about 5th grade. (c 1967)

Then it became 'cool' to take your lunch in a brown paper bag.

After reading this, I looked it up and found that they're selling for $455 on ebay.

WTF????

Yeah these old lunch boxes are worth a small fortune now.

key word: "selling" -- look at sold listings. No one is actually paying that kind of price for them. But like anything else 50+yo, they are collector items.

[quote]After reading this, I looked it up and found that they're selling for $455 on ebay.

That's probably one in excellent condition. One that was banged up by a school kid would sell for much less. We used to sit on ours while we waited for the bus.

It's too bad my parents weren't more saavy about collectibles. It only makes sense because the lunchboxes were usually based on tv shows and it effectively dates the lunchbox to a certain timeframe. If we had bought a bunch years ago and just put them in a closet, we could get us a small amount of money now.

I had this one in the 1980s. My sister had a plastic Garfield lunch box.

I has a Disney one and the Strawberry Shortcake one. I can still remember the kind of sour smell of them (did those thermoses actually keep milk cool enough? I don't remember.)

I had one of those quonset hut shaped ones that looked like a school bus (this would be late 60s, very early 70s). Then like R2, around 10 it was brown bags. Lunch boxes were for babies. In my early teens, though, I had my first celebrity gay crush and I bought one of these with my allowance and stored my model-making gear in it. I used the Thermos for loose change. Don't know what happened to it. I suspected my baby dyke sister of appropriating it, but she swore up and down she didn't. Mom probably just sent it to St Vincent dePaul and some hipster is now using it as an ironic murse.

Rocky and Bullwinkle

The Bugaloos

[quote] I can still remember the kind of sour smell of them

I remember my mother washing our thermoses every night in hot, soapy water. They still kind of stank. I wonder if it was the plastic they used.

One really rough kid broke the inside of his thermos and his mother was livid!

It's funny though, the social tiers that children create and how we looked down on people. Kids that brought their sandwiches in plastic baggies were the top tier kids, the next tier was kids that brought their sandwiches in tin foil, the lowest tier was kids that brought their sandwiches in wax paper. Of course, once my mother got sick of making lunches and convinced my father to buy us a weekly meal ticket, I then looked down on kids who "brought" their lunch. By 10, I was already a vicious queen.

R5 hoarder

I had a peanuts lunch box!

It came with a thermos which I dropped one day-- the glass inside broke and I had to throw it away. Later lunch boxes were made with plastic

A new one every year from 1st grade through 6th. I've mostly forgotten which ones, but I remember The Banana Splits as my first lunchbox. The Rookies and Batman.

Bullies or accidental drops, would usually take my thermos out before the school year ended.

Archies!! Loved them. Had many of the comic books and "digest" version of the comic books.

Fuck TV shows, I had an Apollo 11 lunch box!

I used to have a Madonna one from the late 90s/Ray of Light era.

I know....

You sissy Marys, no wonder you were put into lockers. I had Davey Crockett!................................... but I got it because it was red, and red is a fabulous color for me.

DL fave Umpy had a Holly Hobbie lunchbox.

I definitely remember them in the late '50s/early '60s but I have no recollection of which one(s) I had. But I do remember (as mentioned above) the glass Thermoses that broke quite easily.

Go this in the mid-1970s.

Still have it. I doubt it's worth all that much.

Six Million Dollar Man. He was so fucking hot - even on a lunchbox

Pufnstuff

I still had my Roy Rogers lunch box from back in the late 50's to early 60's until about 4 years ago. I had hung on to it for years hoping it would get really valuable, but you can get them on Ebay for around $20 without the thermos. So I put for sale at a moving sale, I was tired of having it around, for $15.

The metal ones got rusty which was SO EMBARRASSING. I wish the plastic ones were around when I was of lunchbox age.

I had a Buck ROgers one. I may have traced my fnger on Buck's package a hundred times.

I was just too cool for school.

I had the Snoopy one in the early 70s.

My sister had the Julia lunch box.

I had one, and it may have had Yogi Bear on it.

I had one from the TV series U.F.O. The kids used to tease me cuz there was a picture on the side of one of those purple-haired women in a mesh top. This was evidently considered dirty.

[quote]That's probably one in excellent condition. One that was banged up by a school kid would sell for much less. We used to sit on ours while we waited for the bus.

I just checked the eBay listing, the lunchbox wasn't in great condition at all, the inside was rusted. Which usually happened with those metal lunch boxes, from general condensation and the thermos leakage, which sometimes happened. I had that same Flintstones lunchbox. I remember when it got beat up, my mom replaced it with another one, don't remember which TV show. My dad then proceeded to use the Flintstones one for nails, nut & bolts storage!

I have a Beverly Hillbillies metal lunchbox on my fridge, an aunt gave it to me many years ago. She was cleaning house, she told me, "You like all this vintage and retro stuff, here take this. Lord knows my kids don't want their old crap!" She probably sold rare vintage Barbies for 25¢ at her yard sales! She's a crazy old broad.

Rocky & Bullwinkle

Bullwinkle & Rocky

Bullwinkle and Rocky can suck my dick!

I had this one, R16.

Post it, R35. We'll let you know.

What's "lunch?"

Wonder Woman

I had a Wizard of Oz lunchbox. And the smell was truly funky. Mom even washed it in the dishwasher and it still smelled. What was up with that?

Bionic woman too.

Not metal, but I had this one. Still do!

Second the Six Million Dollar Man. I used stare at Lee Majors picture while eating lunch.

Campus Queen!

Had a Close Encounters one and later a Pac Man one. But my favorite was a plastic Bee Gees one that displayed a different image depending on what angle you looked at it. And yes, they usually smelled funny. Starting in middle school it was always a sack or I bought from the cafeteria.

You were all so much more exciting than the preppy, WASP, 6-year-old me.

But we were on to paper bags by 3rd grade.

I have two metal lunch boxes that I used as a child, the second one is Mickey Mouse with a Bicentennial theme, the first one is this...

I had a Family Affair lunchbox in 1st grade. By 2nd grade I wanted a new one and my mom said NO. I refused to carry Family Affair so my mom spray painted it blue and I used it for a couple more years. By 3rd grade I wanted The Partridge Family lunchbox in the worst way but the answer was still NO. A friend gave me the Partridge Family lunchbox as an adult (with intact glass thermos.) I have it still. Took it to see David Cassidy at the DV8 club in SF with a sharpie to get it signed but had no luck, cause DC split the crotch of his pants (saw his scrotum and public hairs) and ran away ASAP after his set.

I remember this one. But was I the one who had it, or was it someone else's? It was quite popular in the late '50s.

And this one.

And Peanuts

And this red tartan one.

Several. One that stands out was LAND OF THE GiANTS.

Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman. Yes, i am a gay queen.