Web Site News

Site Map

Contact Us

Home

Sometimes a new lunchbox means more to parents than to kids. Who doesn't remember his or her favorite school lunchbox?

"In 1953, Roy Rogers graced the first fully lithographed steel lunchbox and vacuum bottle set," says Tanya Johnson, spokeswoman for Thermos in Chicago. "It was an instant hit, selling more than 2 million sets in the first year."

Johnson says school lunchbox designs tell a story about the rise of pop culture in America.

The first movie character on a lunchbox was Hopalong Cassidy. The design was a rendition by artist Robert Burton, and it was pasted onto a metal lunchbox for Aladdin Industries of Nashville, Tenn. Thermos, Aladdin's competitor, followed Aladdin's success with a design featuring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

"Through the years, popular themes like the space program, TV shows like 'The Brady Bunch' and 'Happy Days,' heroes like firemen, favorite cartoons like Looney Tunes, favorite toys like Barbie and movies like 'Star Wars' have all been a way for kids to express their interests," Johnson says.

This year, with Thermos celebrating its 100th anniversary, the company has issued a three-piece set of commemorative metal lunchboxes featuring a replica of the 1964 McPherson Plaid lunchbox, a Barbie lunchbox inspired by artwork from 1962 and a replica of a 1959 Looney Tunes lunchbox.

"These days, making lunchboxes more fun helps parents compete with hot dogs and pizza in cafeterias," Johnson says.

To make boxes more interesting to kids, Thermos has created a line of interactive boxes. One Barbie lunchbox, for example, comes with a peel-and-stick wardrobe so Barbie can wear different outfits. Scooby-Doo boxes have changeable cartoon scenes. Another lunchbox comes with a frog on the front. Behind the frog's mouth is a secret compartment for storing notes or treats.

Thermos also has introduced a collection of vacuum bottles they call FUNtainers. Most come with push-button tops with pop-up straws. Some have lids that look like tires; others have games with spinners built into the lids.

Still, we wonder if they'll compete with Roy Rogers.

Comments or Suggestions?