Lunch Boxes

The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit, is a rigid container used for carrying food. more...

The essential idea of a food container has been around for a very long time, but it wasn't until the 20th century that they became a staple of western youth, and in turn, a marketable product in the eyes of the manufacturers.

The lunch box is most often used by school children, to carry a prepared meal to school. The most common form resembles a small plastic briefcase, often printed with a colourful image that is frequently based children's television or films.

Technically speaking, lunch box manufacturers referred to lunch boxes, as we know them, by their actual name, lunch kits. A lunch kit is the actual "box." Most lunch kits also were paired with matching vacuum bottles, usually lithographed with the theme of the lunch kit. Pop culture has embraced the term lunch box, so this is what is generally used, and is totally acceptable.

History

The 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.

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