Vintage Lunchboxes

Nowadays everyone uses insulated bags to carry their lunch but I'm old enough to remember taking my lunch to school in a tin lunchbox.  I actually have a cooler and thermos to match the plaid one below.

This tin-plated steel lunch box was manufactured by the Ohio Art Company in the 1920s.
The lunch box features a removable lid and two pinned metal handles,
as well as images of children playing with a cat on the top and sides of the box.

This steel lunch box was manufactured by the Ohio Art Company in1957. It features a metal snap
for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. The exterior design is a red, brown and yellow plaid design.

The Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite in late 1957 sparked interest in the United States in
 science education even among elementary school children. In 1958, King Seeley Thermos produced
 this imaginative box evoking space travel and landings on distant moons and planets.
This is one of the few pop culture lunch boxes from the late 1950s not designed around a television show.

This domed, tin lunch box was made around 1950, but has an unknown maker. The box has two
 metal snaps fora hinged lid and a spiraled wire hinged handle. There is a silver design with red
outlined rosettes and green outlined scallops on the lid and sides.

This domed steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1969. This lunch box
features a psychedelic pattern of swirling orange, red, pink and yellow.
The wild design aesthetic is representative of the 1960’s ethos and evokes other sixties motifs
like tie-dye and lava lamps.

All images courtesy of and copyright © the National Museum of American History.
Lots more here via Design Observer