Across Indiana
Unpacking the World of Lunch Box Collecting
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Dave Stoelk unpacks the world of vintage lunch box collecting.
We all remember a time when we bursted into the cafeteria and slammed our Barbie or Star Wars lunch box on the table, excited to see what Mom packed. Well, as it turns out, those feelings are still felt by collectors of these sandwich-scented novelties. In 1995, Across Indiana producer Dave Stoelk unpacked the world of vintage lunch boxes with local collector, Nick Johnson.
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Across Indiana is a local public television program presented by WFYI
Across Indiana
Unpacking the World of Lunch Box Collecting
Clip | 5m 5sVideo has Closed Captions
We all remember a time when we bursted into the cafeteria and slammed our Barbie or Star Wars lunch box on the table, excited to see what Mom packed. Well, as it turns out, those feelings are still felt by collectors of these sandwich-scented novelties. In 1995, Across Indiana producer Dave Stoelk unpacked the world of vintage lunch boxes with local collector, Nick Johnson.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipNick Johnson likes to hark back to the good old days when he ate his lunches out of a box.
All I had was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheese sandwiches.
And there's no shortage of boxes around Nick's house.
How does your wife feel about all this?
Oh, she's pretty tolerant.
She, doesn't like them sitting around all over the place.
In case you haven't guessed.
Nick collects lunch boxes.
These are very rare and very hard to find.
The first lunch pails or boxes had very humble beginnings.
But when decals were added, the lunchbox evolved into the marketing tool we know today.
Probably the most collectible lunch boxes are in the late 50s and early 60s.
1960 through 1966 are very popular very collectible, very expensive lunch boxes.
A rare lunch bo could fetch hundreds of dollars.
This 1952 Hopalong Cassidy is his most valuable.
These things have a uniqueness.
Everybody had a little bit of a creativeness about them and with that, it sort of had a something that grabbed your attention.
Has a nice sound to it, doesnt it?
Sure does.
And probably more kids owned a Walt Disney school lunchbox than any other lunchbox.
The problem with this on is that if you and I got into it on the school bus and you took a swing at me, I could just take a swing at you with my lunch box.
Yeah, you wouldn't do that.
And the next thing you know, they're using that as their weapons to fight each other.
Hit it again.
He's a glutton for punishment.
It doesn't hurt me at all.
No, it doesn't hurt.
But if I did that with that one, it would hurt.
For a time, school officials prompted the manufacture of soft vinyl lunchboxes.
It was a low point for the lunch industry, but not the lowest.
And if you'll notic that on the back of the Bee Gees lunchbox is a picture of the individual.
In this particular case this is a Maurice Gibbs lunchbox The Lunchbox Cartel lunched on popular culture.
But, of course, then you had the Mork and Mindy lunchbox.
I've got over 840.
In fact, he's run out of room.
So I've been trying to categorize them and take pictures of them, put them in boxes, and store them in our attic.
We haven't even mentioned the thermos.
He's got even more of those.
And they're every bit as collect as the lunchboxes they complement.
Do you think these would be good for beer?
Sure, they'll keep beer cold.
Whoa!
Oh my goodness.
If you don't mind.
It's cold beer.
Well, typically it would be, some soup Either chicken noodle soup or tomato soup.
Well, it stands to reason that Nick is also an expert on the school lunches that went into lunchboxes.
Campbell's soup was, was the number one soup back then and still is today.
How do you know all that?
But, you know the Twinkie was the most popular dessert back in the 1950s and 60s.
Well, listen, I'll trade you my Twinkie for your Double Stuf Oreo cookies.
That's a great trade.
I love them.
I love Twinkies.
I notice you like that beer pretty well.
I love Campbell's tomato soup.
Very tasty.
You know, we went from the metal boxes to the vinyl boxes to the, back to the metal boxes to the from the domes to the square box and and now, of course, we're in what I call the more cheap, generic plastic, period of time.
That doesn't stop him from collecting the cheapies.
And there's an irony to Nick's lunchbox obsession.
I grew up in a small town, and I actually, I didn't have a lunchbox.
I carried a brown paper bag.
And then when they started the school lunch program why I started buying school lunches and things.
But I would say that you made up for lost time then didnt you?
I tried to.
I, I'm just getting started.
I'm not so certainl they allowed kids to drink beer in school, but...hahaha.
For more Across Indiana stories, go to wfyi.org/acrossindiana
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