Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with this Willow lunch box!
While metal lunch boxes as we know them first became common in the 1920s for men and women in the workforce, licensed lunch boxes date back to 1935 when a company called ‘Geuder, Paeschke, & Frey’ from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was authorized to use the likeness of Mickey Mouse for the top of its “Lunch Kit.” This was a metal container sealed at the top with a rigid wire loop that doubled as a handle.
From then on, movie and TV characters of all sorts on the side of a lunchbox, became common for kids taking their lunch to school as the design and licenses changed through the 20th century. Metal lunch boxes were pretty much discontinued in 1985 when a group of Florida parents petitioned against their use in schools, claiming they could be used as weapons, with the final metal lunch box ever made printed with Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo. Just a bit violent, right?
Following the ban on metal, vinyl lunch boxes were produced for a short time in the late 80s, but ultimately were not durable enough and soon gave way to hard plastic lunch boxes. Plastic remained the standard through the 90s until soft, insulated Neoprene lunch bags began to dominate the market. Anyways, here’s my 1988 Willow lunch box and matching thermos.
The Willow film turns 37 years old today! I figure there’ll be a new Willow item from my collection to share here for the rest of the month. Happy 37 years to the Magic of Willow!
Dale's Toys 