Pre-War Lunch Boxes

• In the early 1900s, lunch tins as a product were not really available. People used to carry their food to work or school in a metal pail. Some used empty candy or biscuit tins. These were superseded by metal carry-alls. The rise of metal lithography allowed metal lunch tins to be decorated with colorful pictures. Some were given a repeating pattern of woven yellow wicker to make them look like picnic baskets.
  
  

The TV Era

• With the advent of TV, illustrations of characters became popular. The first character to appear on a lunch tin was Hopalong Cassidy in 1950, followed by Roy Rogers. In the 1960s, lunch boxes were sometimes decorated with Disney characters: examples include a school bus tin with Disney characters looking out of the windows and a Disney fire house. These were made of metal with lithograph illustrations.
  
  

The End of the Lunch Tin

• Between the 1960s and 1980s, metal lunch boxes fell out of favor. A vinyl and cardboard Barbie lunch box was introduced, followed by other plastic products.