Lunch Box

Lunch boxes aren't as cool as when I was a kid. They just lack imagination. First of all, there are a million different designs, and most are made of like a nylon type material, forming a soft pack. Even the inside of the lunch box is departmentalized for the drink, the token fruit, and the departmentalized lunchable. How boring! Just prior to my generation, was the "old man" lunch box. Looked like a barn painted in solid black, red, or silver. You opened up the lid, and your thermos full of coffee fit inside the lid. They were durable metal boxes though. Every hard working man took one to his job, and it withstood time and abuse. Still boring! Then my generation of lunch boxes appeared on the scene:) Still a durable metal, but not that unattractive black barn. This was an actual box, which may or may not have had a matching thermos, with a theme on it! I think my first one had Hot Wheels, and I know I had a Peanuts comic strip box also. I remember friends having Happy Days, and Dukes of Hazzard lunch boxes, that I coveted. And inside the box was pretty much open space for whatever you wanted. You could cram as much food as possible (of course the apple ALWAYS smashed your peanut butter and jelly), along with elementary school contraband. I remember buying candy at the Kwik Shop, taking it to school, and selling it for a profit. Usually, Now & Laters, gum, Life Savers,... whatever small, black market, sweets I could sneak into school. When you got a new lunch box (some kids got a new one every year... a little jealous) you kept your old one for storage. Toys, rocks, snakes (real or plastic), or whatever your imagination could conjure up. If I remember correctly, my cousin even used his to sled down the hill in the snow! It just boggles my mind that these are such hot collectors' items now. I think lunch would be more enjoyable if we could resurrect the old lunch box. Everything these days is theme based. There's no lack of subject matter to throw on a lunch box. American Idol, are you interested?