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David Berry's wife may think the 34-year-old Mayfield native is a little too old to carry a Gene Autry lunch box, but Berry is not planning to pack peanut butter and jelly in any of his growing collection of nostalgic lunch boxes.

Berry sells antiques in The Antique Shop in Mayfield, but his personal collection includes everything from jazz records to Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. Now he has found a new collectible in lunch boxes.

"I've got some on display here in the shop, but they're not for sale," he said. "I keep most of them stored away.

"I've been collecting stuff from the '50s and '60s for a pretty good while," Berry said. "I started doing it about five years ago when I was looking for some things for my Beatles collection and wanted some Beatles lunch boxes. After that, I saw another box I liked and just started picking them up at yard sales, flea markets, junk stores and thrift stores. I just branched out with my collecting."

Berry said the lunch box collecting craze is just now gaining popularity, even though other people share his love for nostalgia.

"There's been a lot of hype here lately," he said. "A lot has to do with the baby boom generation.

The lunch boxes are something that was theirs that they can relate to as a part of their childhood.

Plus, they're the ones spending the money."

Availability of the boxes is on the upswing, said Berry, who is beginning to find them at the flea markets and antique sales he regularly attends.

And prices are already beginning to rise. According to Berry, boxes that used to go for a quarter or 50 cents are selling for anywhere from $1 to $200.

Market value for vinyl lunch boxes is often higher than that of metal models, Berry said. "The metal ones are more durable because those vinyl ones are just plastic wrapped around cardboard," he said. "Since most kids walked to school, they were out in weather where the boxes got wet and were just ruined."

Berry's own collection is in good shape, though, and he intends to keep adding to it. It won't hurt, he said, that he has a jump on collectors just getting started.

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