# What lunch box did you take to school as a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141 "2013-02-02T19:55:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/1 "2013-02-02T19:55:08Z")
Me, I sported a Peanuts lunch box all through grade school, featuring Snoopy. [This one](http://www.collectpeanuts.com/Collection/ImagesW/Lunchboxes/IMG_3303.jpg), as a matter of fact. What lunch box or boxes did you have (and use) growing up? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/2 "2013-02-02T19:58:55Z")
I used a paper bag. Every day after lunch, I would put one hash mark on it, fold it up, and put it in my pocket to reuse the next day. No, I wasn’t a budding environmentalist. I was just a geeky kid who wanted to see how long I could make it last before my mother would throw it out. I usually got up to about ten lunches before she trashed it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/3 "2013-02-02T20:02:26Z")
[The Beatles.](http://www.morethings.com/music/beatles/images/temp/Lunchbox1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/4 "2013-02-02T20:03:04Z")
Oh…god. The worst. The absolute worst. My mother hated me. Everyone had Strawberry Shortcake or Care Bears or Transformers. The coolest kids had brown paper bags with grease stains on the side. Not me. Nope. I was the loser. Yep. The [Tupperware Lunch Box](http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagegoodness/3048918107/). They called it “red”, but it was freaking 1970s Ugly Ass Orange. Excuse me, I need to go crawl under the covers and rock myself to sleep now. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/5 "2013-02-02T20:04:14Z")
I had a Peanuts lunch box too, but it wasn’t the cool metal kind that you can brain another kid with. It was vinyl-covered cardboard. Thanks, Mom. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/6 "2013-02-02T20:04:50Z")
always bought my lunch at school ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/7 "2013-02-02T20:08:13Z")
[The Rat Patrol.](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rat+patrol+lunch+box&id=B836DD947685077EB8F3632D462F18D74FF405C5&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=31E8C69EEA74249EB9BFBD6883B7FF2D5CB2894D&selectedIndex=12) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/8 "2013-02-02T20:10:58Z")
The one I had a barn and animals on it. [This looks like it might be it](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-37yq6mTIqpg/T0gBsPfwWTI/AAAAAAAABDs/CAKFKqzIxJk/s1600/Vintage+Thermos+Barn+Lunch+Box.jpeg). By 4th grade, though, I was buying my lunch most days. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/9 "2013-02-02T20:11:41Z")
[Submarines.](http://www.etsy.com/listing/100762408/vintage-1960-metal-thermos-submarine?utm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS&gclid=CMO1h563mLUCFdRbPAodm0QAMw) Gee, ninety bucks! I wonder what Mom did with it? ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/10 "2013-02-02T20:18:21Z")
My mom got me a “[classic](http://img3.etsystatic.com/000/0/5494644/il_fullxfull.293027099.jpg)” design, then I had a green plastic recycling/ecology box, but I can’t find a pic. Anyone using a lunchbox past the 3rd grade or so was deemed a pansy. At least around 1973 or so.😃 Googling [1960’s lunchbox images](https://www.google.com/search?q=1960%27s+lunch+boxes&num=30&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Cmk&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=hHINUdKoCoue8gS1oYHwCA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAA&biw=960&bih=505#imgrc=_) brings back a lot of memories! Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/11 "2013-02-02T20:20:27Z")
Oddly enough, I can remember my sister’s [Jonathan Livingston Seagull lunchbox](http://www.skooldays.com/categories/lunchboxes/lb1174.htm), but I can’t remember what lunchbox(es) I had. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/12 "2013-02-02T20:20:48Z")
> **[POLLY PAL for sale | eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=POLLY%2BPAL)** > > Get the best deals for POLLY PAL at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items! Mostly, I went home for lunch, but I did have a “Polly Pal, the Gingham Gal” lunchbox one year. It’s the fourth thing down on the page. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/13 "2013-02-02T20:20:57Z")
I had a couple different ones before carrying a lunchbox stopped being fun. One featured Sigmund and the Sea Monsters I had yet a different Snoopy one from the ones already mentioned. It was plastic and folded open laterally across the middle. The thermos was clamped in the top half. I also remember one that was vinyl covered cardboard, as TheChileanBlob described, but A) it didn’t have any characters, it was plaid and B) it may very well have been my sister’s. At some point she had a Fonzie one. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/14 "2013-02-02T21:09:19Z")
Started with a hand-me-down generic metal one.Someone had painted it with flat blue paint. Looked very … utilitarian. No Thermos. Later got a cowboy one. Also metal. Don’t remember the what character it was. Actually had a Thermos! But it wasn’t long after that that I moved onto the brown paper bag. [Obligatory Simpson’s bit](http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season13/west13.mp3). ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/15 "2013-02-02T21:10:28Z")
For a little while in first grade, my dad packed my lunch for me. I carried it in a yellow plastic Princess Of Power box that had a matching thermos. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/16 "2013-02-02T21:12:55Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Me, I sported a Peanuts lunch box all through grade school, featuring Snoopy. > [This one](http://www.collectpeanuts.com/Collection/ImagesW/Lunchboxes/IMG_3303.jpg), as a matter of fact. > > What lunch box or boxes did you have (and use) growing up? I had a yellow, plastic Snoopy doghouse lunch box. Thermos in the lid. Loved it! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/17 "2013-02-02T21:19:06Z")
I never went to a school, ever, that didn’t serve hot lunches to all (and I’m going back to the 1950s). A wasted childhood, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/18 "2013-02-02T21:30:42Z")
I had this [My Little Pony](http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4575257739395233&pid=1.7&w=211&h=153&c=7&rs=1) lunchbox and my sister had a [Care Bears](http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.5035106977513895&pid=1.7&w=220&h=155&c=7&rs=1) one. I believe at some point in time we also had a Jem lunchbox. The best thing was when my mom would put the spaghettios thermos in there. It was my favorite thing for lunch!! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/19 "2013-02-02T21:58:32Z")
> [@FrancisCastle](#): > > I had this [My Little Pony](http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4575257739395233&pid=1.7&w=211&h=153&c=7&rs=1) lunchbox and my sister had a [Care Bears](http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.5035106977513895&pid=1.7&w=220&h=155&c=7&rs=1) one. I believe at some point in time we also had a Jem lunchbox. The best thing was when my mom would put the spaghettios thermos in there. It was my favorite thing for lunch!! Your mommy loved you. _sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![liquorinthefront](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/22d042/32.png) [@liquorinthefront](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liquorinthefront)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141/20 "2013-02-02T22:00:34Z")
Evel Knievel metal. Still have it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lunch-box-did-you-take-to-school-as-a-kid/649141.md?page=2)