| 1765 |
John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich, orders roast beef between slices of toast to be brought to him at a gaming table, thereby inventing the lunch staple which bears his name.
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| 1810 |
First patent for a tin-plated iron can in England.
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| 1818 |
Tin-plated can introduced to America.
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| 1825 |
First tin-plated can patented in the United States.
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| 1847 |
First metal stamping machine patented in America.
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| 1800s |
Empty tobacco, cookie, and biscuit tins used as lunch pails.
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| 1892 |
First successful vacuum bottle created in laboratory by James Dewar, an English scientist.
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| 1902 |
First American lithographed tin lunch box shaped like a little picnic basket and featuring children at play.
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| 1903 |
First commercial vacuum bottle, the "Dewar Flask," patented and sold in Germany.
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| 1904 |
Contest conducted by German newspapers to name the vacuum bottle. Named by Munich resident, "thermos" (from Greek word therme, meaning heat).
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| 1906 |
First imported "thermos" bottles from Germany sold in United States.
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| 1907 |
First American "thermos" bottle made in Brooklyn, New York, by The American Thermos Bottle Company.
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| 1911 |
American Thermos made first workman's lunch kit with thermos bottle.
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| 1914 |
Invention of continuous drying ovens for inked tin plates.
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| 1920 |
American Thermos made first plain, flat children's lunch kit.
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| 1925 |
First experimental television.
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| 1931 |
Ohio Art (formerly Spencer, Bartlett and Company) produces Sports and Transportation, its first tin lunch pails.
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| 1930s |
Decoware tin lunch pails produced.
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| 1935 |
Mickey Mouse, the first licensed character kit, made by Geuder, Paeschke & Frey Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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| 1936 |
NBC begins television broadcasts from New York.
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| 1945 |
ABC goes on the air from New York.
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| 1946 |
Chicago-based Aladdin Industries sells red and blue enameled steel lunch kits that include vacuum bottles.
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| 1947 |
Howdy Doody debuts on NBC.
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| 1949 |
Hopalong Cassidy broadcasts on NBC.
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| 1950 |
Aladdin's Hopalong Cassidy is the first licensed TV character kit. 600,000 decaled boxes and lithographed bottles were sold in the first year. Aladdin moves to Nashville, Tennessee.
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| 1953 |
American Thermos sells the Roy Rogers lunch kit, the first fully lithographed steel lunch box and bottle.
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| 1954 |
With new Hopalong Cassidy and Tom Corbett: Space Cadet kits, Aladdin adopts the fully lithographed steel lunch kit.
ADCO Liberty and Landers, Frary and Clark (Universal) enter the lunch kit market with The Lone Ranger and Superman respectively.
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| 1956 |
ADCO Liberty, after a dispute with the Disney company, quits the lunch kit business.
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| 1957 |
First decorated dome kits: Aladdin's Buccaneer and American Thermos' Red Barn.
Ohio Art produced Frontier Days and Sports Afield, its first rectangular steel boxes.
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| 1959 |
First vinyl boxes: Aladdin's Bobby Soxer, American Thermos' Ponytails, and Universal's Pen Pals.
Ardee Industries, a Maryland leather company, starts making generic vinyl boxes.
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| 1960 |
American Thermos bought by King Seeley to become King Seeley Thermos Co. (or simply KST).
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| 1962 |
Aladdin introduces "3-D" embossing, a "braille effect" using 1/16 relief on character kits, such as Huckleberry Hound. It becomes an Aladdin trademark.
Aladdin introduces its first vinyl Brunch Bag with zipper and strap handle.
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| 1965 |
Landers, Frary and Clark go out of business. Its Universal trademark and lunch box dies are sold to General Electric's housewares division.
Standard Plastic Products, the New Jersey maker of KST's vinyl boxes, is bought by Mattel Toy Co., which discontinues box production.
The Stanley bottle-- green-colored, steel-encased beverage container sold at most department stores, was acquired by Aladdin.
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| 1966 - 1968 |
KST produces generic boxes such as Auto Race and Campus Queen with magnetic games on back.
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| 1968 - 1969 |
Aladdin switches from traditional steel/glass to plastic/glass bottles.
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| 1972 |
Supposed safety legislation bans the sale of steel lunch boxes in Florida. This ban spreads over the following decade to many states and Canada, forcing lunch box makers to begin to discontinue the sale of metal boxes in favor of "safer" plastic kits. NOTE: Having done research on the existence of such legislation, Lunch Box Pad cannot find any proof this legislation actually existed. Please see the article Florida Lunch Box Legislation: Law or Lore?
KST switches from steel/glass to plastic bottles.
KST produces first injection-molded plastic box.
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| 1974 |
Buying Landers, Frary and Clark's stamping equipment from General Electric, Okay Industries, a Hartford, Connecticut housewares firm, produces a line of metal lunch kits (often confused with L, F & C since the bottles bear the Universal trademark).
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| 1970s |
Ardee Industries goes out of business.
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| 1978 |
Okay Industries stops making steel boxes.
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| 1980 |
Aladdin begins producing injection-molded plastic boxes.
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| 1982 |
Last vinyl box produced (by Aladdin).
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| 1985 |
Ohio Art stops steel lunch box production.
Robert O. Burton's original prototype Hopalong Cassidy lunch kit was found in a security cage by Thomas Olan Coleman during the remodeling of Aladdin's Distribution and Holding Center Warehouse.
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| 1986 |
Aladdin stops steel box production.
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| 1987 |
KST ends steel box production with Rambo.
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| 1990s |
Aladdin stops all lunch box production.
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| 1998 |
Thermos Co., formerly KST, starts producing metal lunch boxes again.
Lunch Box Pad debuts on the web, quickly becoming the largest lunch box resource available.
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| 2000 |
The highest price on record ever paid for a lunch box-- a mint Superman lunch box (1954, Universal) sold on eBay for $11,999.99. The record box was purchased by Jeffery Landes. Another mint Superman box was auctioned for $11,500.00 at Skinner Galleries, in Boston, MA.
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| 2001 |
Aladdin Industries, LLC sold its thermos business to Pacific Market International, a Seattle-based maker of insulated food and beverage storage products. Aladdin also sold its plastic insulated mugs, tumblers and coolers business to Thermo-Serv Ltd., which sells insulated products all over the world.
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| 2002 |
LBP was notified that an original Peanuts prototype lunch box illustrated by Nick LoBianco had been discoverd. The lunch box was illustrated on paper using pencil, India ink, and water colors. The paper was then affixed to the sides of the metal box. See the prototype lunch box.
The Smithsonian Institution begins a three-year "Lunch Box Memories" tour. The tour starts November 16, at the Lafayette Natural History Museum in Lafayette, Louisiana. Read the article.
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| 2003 |
The concept art for a Ludwig Von Drake lunch box, as illustrated by Al Konetzni, was sold at auction. This concept art for the front of a lunch box depicts Ludwig Von Drake surrounded by books and standing in front of a bus. The design was created on a sheet of 7" x 8" tracing paper. The entire sheet is covered by the art, done in pastel and colored pencil. This drawing is signed by Konetzni. See the concept artwork.
In December, a mint Superman lunch box (Universal, 1954) was auctioned for $11,500.00 at MastroNet, Inc. auctions. With the 15% buyer's premium, the total price of this lunch box was $13,225.00. See the Superman lunch box.
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| 2004 |
On April 13, the Smithsonian Institution launched their "Taking America to Lunch" exhibit, which will be on display indefinitely at Smithsonian's American History Museum. The exhibit will feature over 100 lunch boxes from the 1880s to the 1980s. Thermos L.L.C., celebrating it's 100th anniversary, donated many historic lunch boxes to the exhibit.
In conjuction with the Smithsonian exhibit, Thermos L.L.C. (Thermos) released limited editions of three classic lunch boxes-- Looney Tunes TV, Barbie, and MacPherson Plaid. These limited edition boxes will only be made available for purchase at the Smithsonian Gift Shop.
Last updated on May 20, 2004
Information courtesy The Official Price Guide to Lunch Box Collectibles.
Additional information provided by Lunch Box Pad.
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Monday . February 08 . 2010
