ADCO Vintage Lunch Boxes

With the lunch box bonanza gathering pace in the early 1950s there were several new entrants into the market, all keen to a turn profit from the apparent explosion in these fashionable items. ADCO was one such player who began making metal lunch boxes in 1954.

ADCO-Liberty MFG. Corp., to give the company’s full name, featured several designs including E. Roger Muir’s, popular NBC Howdy Doody TV show and also some successful Disney models including Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett. However, it was the company’s relationship with Disney which would eventually put an end to its lunchbox production.

Just two short years after ADCO-Liberty began manufacturing operations, a dispute with Disney occurred over the Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier model. Whilst Davy himself was a licensed character from the 1955 Disney film, in an effort to increase the marketing appeal of the lunch box, ADCO had decided to feature Kit Carson on the rear of the product. Kit, of course, was a non-Disney TV hero and this caused disagreement between the two companies. The exact details of what went on are unclear, but the end result was, in 1956, that Disney switched over to Nashville-based Aladdin Industries for lunch box design and manufacture. Simultaneously, ADCO shut down its operations in Newark, New Jersey.

There are some rare and valuable ADCO collector’s items. The pictures below are of the product that caused the Disney dispute. Including the 15% buyer’s premium, it sold for $347.88 on 27 May 2010 at Hake’s Americana & Collectibles.

Davy On The Front

Kit on the Back - Oops!

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Golden Age of Lunch Boxes Quiz

Quizmaster

After publishing the two recent articles on tuned..

However, in the process of my research I came across this lunch box quiz which is a lot of fun and actually has some really good questions. I definitely learnt a lot, but I’m too shy to tell you my score!

You can check it out here (only takes 3 minutes):

Lunch Box Quiz

By the way, if you are enjoying the articles on Tin Lunch Boxes HQ then please subscribe to my RSS feed by hitting the button at the top right of the page.

Ohio Art Lunch Boxes

Alongside American Thermos and the fantastic Aladdin Industries, the Ohio Art Company became known as one of the “big three” lunch boxes manufacturers during the 1950s.

Ohio Art Logo

The roots of the company were formed by Henry S. Winzeler, a dentist and art enthusiast from Archbold, Ohio in 1908. In the early days it was mainly picture frames and other novelty items that rolled off the production line. Gradually, as printing and lithograph technology evolved towards the end of the First World War, Henry moved into the toy business adding in windmills, drums, tea sets and of course the famous “climbing monkey”.

Ohio’s success continued during the interwar period and a year after incorporating in 1930, they paid a $6 dividend to shareholders. Steel restrictions from 1942 to the end of WWII shut down the company’s toy manufacturing processes which were converted – albeit temporarily – to produce technical parts for the military.

By the 1950s, the metal lunch box craze was in full swing and Ohio, who had a background in lunch pails (the precursor of “modern” metal lunch boxes), played a significant part in it. Business was healthy and the profits from this period enabled Henry to pick up on an idea developed by French inventor and electrician Andre Cassagnes which later evolved into the all-time classic children’s toy, the Etch-A-Sketch system.

Today, Ohio Art has two main business divisions. The first is still centered around Etch-A-Sketch plus other popular toys, and the second remains focused on the metal lithography technology which propelled the mass lunchbox popularity of the 1950s.

Whilst arguably not as well known as Aladdin Industries, there is no doubt about the quality and collectibility of Ohio’s lunch transport products. Here is one of the company’s vintage pieces, a rare 1982 Jack & Jill box from 1982. This particular example was listed on eBay for $125:

Ohio Arts 1982 Jack & Jill Lunch Box

Metal Lunch Boxes – 3 Buying Tips

If you type the phrase “metal lunch boxes” into Google or a similar search engine then you are probably looking for one of two things: Either you are interested in collectible lunch boxes or you just wish to purchase a product for everyday use.

Of course, purchasing a box is very straightforward. There are a ton of specialist retailers that you can find online as well as more generic sites such as Amazon and eBay which have many items listed.

Metal Lunch Boxes - 3 Buying Tips

However, getting started in collecting metal lunch boxes is somewhat harder as although there is plenty of information available it tends to be widely scattered so finding exactly what you are looking for is often difficult. With this in mind here are 3 tips for all of you who are thinking about starting a collection:

1. Check the Vintage & Cross Check the Price.

Prices on online auction sites can be a little baffling sometimes. Often the seller has discovered a long lost lunchbox in his or her attic or garage and has decided to sell to raise some extra cash. In these cases list prices may be inappropriate and although this means that they are often too high it is sometimes the case that the seller has not realised the true value of the piece they are selling! For this reason rule #1 is to always cross check prices! For example, if the box is listed on eBay then try checking on Amazon and vice versa. If in real doubt then consider consulting a price guide.

2. Consider Seasonal Factors.

The prices of vintage metal lunch boxes can fluctuate throughout the year. The time at which prices are most likely to be inflated is during the Summer Back-to-School period. This is of course when parents are busy equipping their children with all the kit they will need for the new school term and this of course includes lunch boxes! I would speculate that this process invokes a certain degree of nostalgia in many parents who then proceed to go hunting for vintage pieces on the net!

3. Watch Out for Reproductions

Many of the classic vintage pieces from the 1950s and 1960s proved so popular that they are still manufactured today. The giveaway is obviously if you find more modern vinyl or PVC boxes but sometimes replicate metal lunch boxes are still made. Some examples, include Disney School Bus, Hopalong Cassidy and the Roy Rogers metal lunch boxes. In terms of the latter a total of 7 version were produced in the years to 1957. So if you were interested in buying one of these then take some extra time to make sure of the exact year.

Good luck, and please don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

Rob.

An Interview with Stacey McCaffrey about Vintage Lunch Boxes

On my hunt around the “interweb” I just came across this excellent article. Amongst other things it features an excellent interview with Stacey McCaffrey who owns Etsy.com store Vintage Jane. Interesting to see that she suggests that the reason lunch boxes are so collectible is nostalgia.

Well I have to say Stacy, I couldn’t agree more!

Please do read the interview – it is well worth 3 minutes of your time!  Here is a link.

I also took a moment to search Etsy.com for products (never actually done this before!). Quite an assorted collection was returned but my favorite is this 1960’s Disney Studios Schoolbus box:

1960’s “Schoolbus”

Enjoy!

Metal Lunch Boxes from the 1980s

I just found this site which features a number of (eBay listed) metal lunch boxes from the 1980s. Ok, so there are some plastic boxes in there too but still a pretty impressive list don’t you think?

1980s Metal Lunch Boxes

Star Trek, Gremlins and my all time favorite The Dukes of Hazzard which is listed for the tidy sum of $135.

In terms of price these are a world away from the collectables of the 1940s and 1950s but for me (as a 30-something) the 1980s decade raises the greatest levels of nostalgia in my heart! Actually, I am slightly surprised at how cheap some of these boxes are. $0.99 for a Mr.T? I wonder if the sellers of these items really know the true value here? I suspect the current owner of the “Vintage 1984 School Days Mickey Lunch Box Rare” does given that they are asking for $225 : – )

One lunchbox that I am really after is unfortunately not listed here. It is the Airwolf lunchbox. Out of the Knight Rider, Street Hawk and Airwolf series I much preferred the latter.

Overall, I think the jury is out on the 1980s as to whether it will become a classic and collectable decade. On the upside there are a lot of people with some real vintage memories of TV shows etc but on the downside there was an awful lot of memorabilia manufactured. I think we will have to wait until “supply” reduces as more boxes inevitably get lost and destroyed before prices will increase. Of course, this is one of the reasons why the tin lunch boxes of the 30s and 40s fetch such high prices at auctions: Supply was severely restricted due to the economic conditions during the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Tin Lunch Boxes – American was Built on Them!

Tin Lunch Boxes

Tin lunch boxes first emerged over 100 years ago during the mid-19th century (David Shayt, National Museum of American History). Originally woven from straw, manufacturers later favored tin as the material of choice due to its robust and durable nature.

An important development in the early 20th century was the use of tobacco tins to haul meats. This, coupled with the subsequent invention of lithographed images on metal gave rise to the huge popularity of the many weird and wonderful tin lunch box designs which became incredibly popular with young people.

By the mid-1930s the first licensed character lunch box appeared on the market. Created by Geuder, Paeschke and Frey it featured a sliding tray, a handle and an iconic lithographed design of Mickey Mouse.

In retrospect, the period that followed this really can be regarded as the heyday for the tin lunch box. In fact everything was going swimmingly until the early 1970s when safety concerns (of all things!) contributed to its demise. Parents had become concerned that metal lunch boxes (by this time stainless steel lunch boxes rather than tin were the most popular) could be used as a weapon by children in the playground. Such was the ferocity of the protest that the Florida State Legislature eventually passed legislation on the issue with other states soon following suit.

Although there are undeniable benefits of contemporary plastic and vinyl designs (watertight, airtight and durable), if you’re anything like me the tin lunch box will always be your favorite! It gives me comfort to know that others share my feelings: Many of the early lithographed designs, especially from the 50s and 60s, have become surprisingly collectable. For example, a mint Isolina lunch box sold for $11,500 in 2003 at Chickens Go Moo, Inc auctions!

Always a sucker for nostalgia my all-time preference is actually for retro-looking shiny metal lunch boxes which were used so much by the American workforce during the early and mid-20th century. This is the design which I use 5 days a week at work. American was literally built on the tin lunch box!

I hope you enjoy this site and share my enthusiasm for a small but in my view important part of our history. I aim to continue building this resource over time and if you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear from you so please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I will reply to all messages.