Vintage Metal Lunch Box Articles

Collecting Today
Courtesy of Love Saves the Day, New York City

Prices for character lunch boxes -- the pieces in highest demand -- skyrocketed in the 1980's but have leveled off in recent years. Later models in fair to poor condition sell for $25 to $50, while early models in mint condition can soar to several hundred dollars. And because glass-lined thermoses broke easily, complete sets are desirable.

Some collectors concentrate on a theme -- westerns, for example, or sci-fi -- while others might look for different subjects that define a particular decade. The highest prices attained are often for those lunch boxes that attract crossover collectors, individuals with more than one field of interest. Prices of $2,000 and up are common when Mickey Mouse memorabilia collectors compete for a 1935 Mickey Mouse carryall.

Yard sales are a collector's best bet for bargains, although in this setting lunch boxes often display the scuff marks consistent with everyday use. Mint items are most often found in specialty shops.

While character lunch boxes fetch top dollar, less-known designs often sit on flea market tables practically unnoticed. Standard black domed-top models, 19th-century lard pails, 1920's painted tin boxes with leather handles, 1930's oval lunch pails and biscuit tins with lithographed motifs -- even 1960's and 1970's models bearing simple floral patterns, plaids, and country scenes -- can be snapped up for about $5 to $25 apiece.