Lunch Boxes Are Not What They Used To Be

Lunch boxes are not what they used to be.

Now they are utilitarian while once they were a status symbol. If you had the right lunch box, you were instantly one of the cool kids. 

Back in the day, lunch boxes said something about who you were, what you liked and how you wanted to be perceived by others. 

It was critical that you go to the store with Mom to pick out just the right one. You never, never, never.....ever let your mother pick one out for you. It’d be the plaid design or Scooby-Doo, or some dumb kid’s design. 

Trust me, even as a child you had to take charge of this purchase and insist on just the right one. It didn’t matter that Mom was paying, you were in charge or you paid a huge social price for it all year long.

If you were a boy, an action hero was always a good choice. No matter what, it had to be cool - bonus points if it came with a built-in decoder device. It had to be something that no one would make fun of like Rat Patrol, The Green Hornet, Superman or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (all popular TV shows boys liked when I was in middle school.)

Girls could get away with a Disney themed box or The Partridge Family lunch box. The teen-idol thing was tricky - just because you thought Bobby Sherman was super cool in August, doesn't mean you would still think so in February, and there was no way Mom was going to buy you another lunch box in the middle of a school year.

In my era, your lunchbox made a statement.

Now, it just keeps your lunch cold.