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Lunchbox Memories
A Smithsonian traveling exhibition comes to the Pensacola Museum of Art
 | | Roy Roger’s Chow Wagon, King Seeley Thermos, 1958. Lent by Sean and Robin Brickell. Photo: Harold Dorwin, Smithsonian Institution. |
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‘Lunch Box Memories’, a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition, recalls the times and places, the heroes and heroines, the fads and fantasies of America’s youth through a rare collection of 75 metal lunch boxes. The exhibition opens at the Pensacola Museum of Art on Friday, September 2 and will close on Saturday, October 22, 2005. ‘Lunch Box Memories’ was developed and organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Behring Center, and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).
The exhibition features illustrated metal lunch boxes dating from the early 1900s to one of the last boxes, manufactured in 1984. Lunch boxes originated in America around the turn of the 20th century, as empty biscuit containers or tobacco cans were often used to tote lunches to work by the first factory workers of the American Industrial Revolution. Occasionally, children in rural areas would use them in the same way for their long journeys to school.
 | | The Beatles, Aladdin Industries, 1965. Lent by Sean and Robin Brickell Photo; Harold Dorwin, Smithsonian Institution. |
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‘Lunch Box Memories’ traces the increasing rivalry, beginning in the 1910s, between lunch box manufacturers American Thermos and Aladdin Industries. Over at least 75 years, both companies produced an amazing array of metal lunch boxes. Further complicating their rivalry was the entertainment industry, which as early as the late 1920s saw opportunity in the metal lunch box industry and joined in, resulting in a trend of character-based lunch boxes including the everfamous 1929 Mickey Mouse box.
 | | Star Wars, King Seeley Thermos, 1978. Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Behring Center. Photo: Harold Dorwin, Smithsonian Institution. |
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With the arrival of the 1950s, the status of the metal lunch box rose to that of a necessary accessory for a contented childhood. The popularity of these illustrated lunch boxes can be attributed to the post-World War II baby boom and the importance of suburban life. It became an everyday tradition for mothers to carefully pack their children¹s lunches. Children anticipated lunchtime and the excitement of opening their metal box to discover if mom had included some cookies or a special note. Between the 1950s and 1960s, more than 120 million metal lunch boxes were sold in America. Curator David Shayt comments, ‘The popularity of the children¹s metal lunch box was a direct reflection of the emergence of mass-marketing in the postwar baby boom years, when waves of new durable goods flooded suburban supermarkets.
Lunch boxes pushed and were pushed by an urgent desire for all things new and presumably better.’ The arrival of plastic materials marked the demise of these fanciful lunch boxes. Two-piece plastic boxes were more quickly and cheaply made than metal boxes. Plastic could be seen as more sanitary than painted metal. Above all, plastic was the next new thing. The character of Rambo, one of the last designs to grace the outside of a metal lunch box, is included in the exhibition.
‘Lunch Box Memories’ celebrates the metal lunch box’s long journey through American history, serving as both a symbol of pop culture and self-expression. Tapping into the vivid memories and childhood connections that lie inside these metal lunch boxes the exhibition reminds visitors of yesteryear, while helping to preserve the future of these rare, classic lunch boxes. The Pensacola Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Friday 10a.m. 5p.m. and Saturday Sunday 12p.m. 5p.m. The cost is $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for students and active military. For more information, please call the PMA at 850-432-6247 or visit www.pensacolamuseumofart. org.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Lunchbox Memories Free Family Day, Saturday, October 8 from 12-4 p.m. Join us for a free family day packed with lunchbox-inspired creation stations, performances, demonstrations, viewings of sample programs represented by lunchboxes in the exhibition and a lecture by David Shayt, the Collections Manager for the Division of Cultural History from the National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian Community Grant Program is funded by MetLife Foundation.
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