Lunchboxes!

[SifuPhil]

Remember your lunchbox? What was on it? What was IN it?

One of my faves at the time ...



I was a Fireball XL-5 fanatic - it was a kid's TV show that used marionettes in a science-fiction setting. All cheesy effects and jerky movements, but I was glued to the tube for every episode.

Inside the box was usually either peanut butter and jelly, bologna and American cheese or hot dogs. A piece of fruit, a piece of candy and of course we got milk at school.

 

[rkunsaw]

I went to school before lunch boxes were invented. Sliced bread had just been invented the year I started third grade.

 

[SeaBreeze]

We never had lunchboxes. My mother used to wrap our sandwiches, usually bologna or tuna fish, in waxed paper, and put everything in a small paper bag.

 

[Ozarkgal]

I was wild about Roy and Dale, Trigger, Buttermilk, Bullet and Gabby...don't forget Pat and his Jeep, Nellie Bell....how do I remember all this menushe when I can't even remember what I did yesterday?

Some of these lunch boxes go for big bucks for collectors. It's amazing that there are any still left, especially with the thermos that was glass lined. We banged ours up pretty good.

 

[That Guy]

Yep, that's it. Roy Rogers! I was a cowboy junkie...

 

[SifuPhil]

Arkunsaw and Sea - I feel bad now! I had no idea that not EVERYONE had a lunchbox ... I thought it was in the Constitution or something.

Ozzie - sweet! I should check out the lunchboxes they sell now - dollars to doughnuts the thermos is all plastic ...

Guy - it would seem you're in good company here! Yeeeeeeeee-HA!

 

[Ozarkgal]

Anyone have one of these sitting around?

This particular lunchbox, the most-sought after by collectors, sold on eBay in December 2005.

• Age: 1954
• Thermos: Included
• Condition: Excellent
• Price Realized: $4,469.

 

[That Guy]

$4,469???

I'm makin' me a some cheapo knockoffs immediately if not sooner!!!

 

[SifuPhil]

Wow, the thermos wasn't even printed to match the lunchbox! How cheesy!

I guess it's true that one man's trash is another man's treasure, but boy oh boy - how many school lunches could you buy for $4,469?

 

[Ozarkgal]

Wow, the thermos wasn't even printed to match the lunchbox! How cheesy!

Yeah..I noticed that too..wonder if it really is the one that goes with it...I guess if you were spending that kind of bucks you would know.

 

[Ozarkgal]

$4,469???

This is a perfect example of a fool and his (her) money are soon parted...It will probably end up in their kid's garage sale when the buyer kicks off.

 

[That Guy]

This is a perfect example of a fool and his (her) money are soon parted...It will probably end up in their kid's garage sale when the buyer kicks off.

And, then, be sold again for $44K...

 

[MarciKS]

I can't remember what was on my lunchbox but I had the old metal kind with a short fat thermos.

 

[Aunt Marg]

I remember kids lunchboxes, my baby brother had one with Popeye on the front.

I do remember baby brothers was plastic, and I'm certain it was red.

 

[debodun]

In 1985, metallic lunch boxes were discontinued. Too many kids were getting injured from hitting each other with them.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I remember a beat-up hand me down similar to this and later a soft vinyl insulated version with the recycled thermos from the original tin lunchbox.

By the time I entered junior high my mother gave me $5.00/week to purchase hot school lunches and other incidentals. Most of that money went for cigarettes.

 

[Aunt Marg]

I remember a beat-up hand me down similar to this and later a soft vinyl insulated version with the recycled thermos from the original tin lunchbox.

By the time I entered junior high my mother gave me $5.00/week to purchase hot school lunches and other incidentals. Most of that money went for cigarettes.

OMG, yes, cigarettes!

A portion of my babysitting money went to cigarettes.

 

[Gardenlover]

I just remember you were screwed if you dropped the thermos.

 

[Pinky]

Edit: It was Punkinhead on my lunchbox, a very popular character with children in the early 50's.

 

[Jules]

In 1985, metallic lunch boxes were discontinued. Too many kids were getting injured from hitting each other with them.

That’s a fascinating piece of trivia.

 

[Chet]

I never had a lunchbox growing up. My elementary school was a block away, the first two years of high school were across the alley in the back of the house, and the last two were a ten minute walk up the hill. I always came home for lunch.

 

[Mat]

I did have a lunch box at one time but I cannot recall who was the hero then. I am pretty sure it was a TV Cowboy, maybe Kit Carson but I just can't remember . Paper bags were the mainstay and my favorite sandwich filler was Vienna sausage sandwiches. I didn't get them every school day but often. My Grandmother thought they were too expensive, what could they have been in 1956, 12 cents a tin ?. Grandmother and her brothers had a cold biscuit and sorghum in an empty sorghum can. In the early 1900s a slab of bacon was a nickel, so I can see the too expensive excuse with my sausages. Now it is Armour and I think they taste terrible and I won't eat them, my dog didn't like them either and if you know the old saying, "if a dog refuses to eat it then be weary". I prefer Jimmy Dean sausage and egg on biscuits. Since Jimmy died the company has gone south and the sausage is not Jimmy Dean, the stuff does not taste the same.

 

[MarciKS]

We have customers come in asking what's good. My thing is if the staff doesn't wanna eat it you shouldn't either. LOL

 

[Sunny]

They were invented after my time. We just went home for lunch.

But I remember my kids' collection of lunchboxes, with matching thermoses.

 

[Mat]

I was wild about Roy and Dale, Trigger, Buttermilk, Bullet and Gabby...don't forget Pat and his Jeep, Nellie Bell....how do I remember all this menushe when I can't even remember what I did yesterday?

Some of these lunch boxes go for big bucks for collectors. It's amazing that there are any still left, especially with the thermos that was glass lined. We banged ours up pretty good.

You should see what their old Ranch has turned into, it looks terrible now, the blacktop highway in front of the place is so potted you could kill yourself. They lived there in the early 50s and the entire TV series was filmed right there on their property. In Roy's memoirs he mentioned how wonderful it was to get up and have breakfast and just go out and film without having to drive anywhere or go to special locations. It was much later they built their nice mansion and eventually civilization moved all around it, a golf course coming up to their property line !!!. The old Ranch just looks so middle of nowhere now it is really sad.