Family & Social Life

Bennet Family Record

Donations to the Museum have preserved irreplaceable evidence about generations of ordinary Americans. Objects from the Copp household of Stonington, Connecticut, include many items used by a single family from 1740 to 1850. Other donations have brought treasured family artifacts from jewelry to prom gowns. These gifts and many others are all part of the Museum's family and social life collections.

Children's books and Sunday school lessons, tea sets and family portraits also mark the connections between members of a family and between families and the larger society. Prints, advertisements, and artifacts offer nostalgic or idealized images of family life and society in times past. And the collections include a few modern conveniences that have had profound effects on American families and social life, such as televisions, video games, and personal computers.

Resource Type: Lunchboxes

Pets N' Pals Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1962. The lunch box has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. This pets n’ pals lunch box features an image of the collie Lassie on one side, and the stallion Black Beauty on the other.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1962. The lunch box has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. This pets n’ pals lunch box features an image of the collie Lassie on one side, and the stallion Black Beauty on the other.
Date made
1962
maker
Thermos
ID Number
2001.3087.11.01
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.11.01

Disco Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries in 1978. It has a metal clasp for hinged lid and collapsible orange plastic handle. The box has a maroon background with an orange rim, and pictures of images of couples dancing to disco on all exterior surfaces.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries in 1978. It has a metal clasp for hinged lid and collapsible orange plastic handle. The box has a maroon background with an orange rim, and pictures of images of couples dancing to disco on all exterior surfaces. This box tries to take advantage of the Disco dance craze popular in American in the late 19070s, which was at its peak in 1978, before the Chicago White Sox’s infamous Disco Demolition Night set off a backlash that made disco decidedly uncool.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1978
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.04.01
nonaccession number
2003.3070
catalog number
2003.3070.04.01

Kung Fu Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1974. The lunch box features imagery from David Carridine’s TV series, Kung Fu which ran from 1972-1975 on ABC.
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1974. The lunch box features imagery from David Carridine’s TV series, Kung Fu which ran from 1972-1975 on ABC.
Date made
1974
collected for nmah
Smithsonian Institution
maker
Thermos
ID Number
1988.3160.45
nonaccession number
1988.3160
catalog number
1988.3160.45

Miss America Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1972. The lunch box features imagery based on the annually televised Miss America Pageant.
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1972. The lunch box features imagery based on the annually televised Miss America Pageant. Originally a beauty pageant when it began in 1921, the Miss America Pageant became a “scholarship pageant” over the years, offering its first scholastic financial aid in 1945. The Miss America Pageant is now the world’s largest provider of scholarships for young women, making $45 million dollars available in scholarships on a yearly basis.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1972
collected for nmah
Smithsonian Institution
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
1988.3160.63
nonaccession number
1988.3160
catalog number
1988.3160.63

Urkel Lunch Box

This hard red plastic lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1991. It has a hinged handle and closing snap for hinged lid. The lunch box features an image of Steve Urkel from the show Family Matters on lid.
Description (Brief)
This hard red plastic lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1991. It has a hinged handle and closing snap for hinged lid. The lunch box features an image of Steve Urkel from the show Family Matters on lid. Family Matters ran from 1989-1997 on ABC and 1997-1998 on CBS, mainly part of ABC’s TGIF block of programming. With his catchphrase “Did I do that?” and distinctive laugh, Urkel became the breakout star of the show and is the star of this box.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1991
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.28.01
nonaccession number
2003.3070
catalog number
2003.3070.28.01

Blue Box Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1927. It was painted blue in a faux leather pattern with a gold finished interior. The box has a leather handle, a single metal snap and vent holes.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1927. It was painted blue in a faux leather pattern with a gold finished interior. The box has a leather handle, a single metal snap and vent holes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1927
maker
American Thermos Bottle Company
ID Number
2004.3009.15.01
nonaccession number
2004.3009
catalog number
2004.3009.15.01

Brave Eagle Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1957. This lunch box features images from the television show Brave Eagle. The sides feature colorful depictions of Indians hunting buffalo and in combat with each other.
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1957. This lunch box features images from the television show Brave Eagle. The sides feature colorful depictions of Indians hunting buffalo and in combat with each other. Brave Eagle was a short-lived TV series, airing one season in 1955-1956 on CBS. The show was notable because its main protagonist was Native American, and featured scenes of the West from the Native American point of view.
Date made
1957
maker
King Seeley Thermos
ID Number
2004.3009.06.01
nonaccession number
2004.3009
catalog number
2004.3009.06.01

Woody Woodpecker Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1971. This lunch box features images from the television show Woody Woodpecker, including Knothead and Splinter, Woody’s nephew and niece.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1971. This lunch box features images from the television show Woody Woodpecker, including Knothead and Splinter, Woody’s nephew and niece. Woody has been a fixture in cartoons and movies since his creation in 1940, and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Date made
1971
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2001.3087.19
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.19

The Jetsons Lunch Box

This domed steel lunch was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1963. It features images from the popular television series, The Jetsons.
Description (Brief)
This domed steel lunch was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1963. It features images from the popular television series, The Jetsons. The lunch box features images of the whole Jetson family, George, Jane, Judy, and Elroy, as well as Rosie the Household Robot and Astro the Dog. This box is one of the most coveted by collectors because of its great design, colorful art, and scarcity.
The Jetsons was an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on ABC from 1962 to 1963 and in reruns for decades after. The primetime sitcom was set in Orbit City in the distant future and focused on the Jetson family – father George, who works at Spacely Space Sprockets, mother Jane, a homemaker, children Judy and Elroy, robot maid Rosie, and their dog Astro. Despite the high-tech gadgetry, labor-saving devices, flying cars, and space colonization of the Jetsons’ world, the series presented the family as a normative American nuclear family of the era, dealing with many of the same issues with work, family, and neighbors faced by the protagonists of The Honeymooners, Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best. The Jetsons featured many futuristic technologies that have now become commonplace - video calling, tablet computers, robotic vacuums, smart watches, flatscreen televisions, drones, and holograms – as well as many others that seem misguided or still far-off such as flying cars, high quality instant food, robot housekeepers, and communities built on pillars in the sky.
The series drew from a rich American literary and entertainment genre of futuristic science fiction from Edward Bellamy’s 1887 utopian novel Looking Backward to the pulp and comic book adventures of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, not to mention contemporary space travel entertainment like Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Americans in the early 1960s were fascinated by the technological innovations of the Space Age and the brighter future promised by the flood of devices, services, and improvements that marketed “better living through chemistry” and material progress. The broad economic growth and prosperity of the post World War II era had allowed many middle-class Americans to purchase luxury goods and participate in leisure activities beyond what seemed possible in the difficult 1930s and 40s. Advertisers marketed new and more inexpensive consumer goods as modern, sleek, and forward-looking, while the NASA space program and race to land a man on the moon captured the world’s attention. The Jetsons premiered amidst this techno-utopianism and seemed to capture the national mood.
Description
Aladdin Industries profited from the success of The Jetsons television cartoon series in the fall of 1963 by introducing a domed lunch box featuring that space-traveling suburban family and their robotic maid. American notions of family life in the 1960s traveled effortlessly outward to interplanetary space on this fanciful box.
Domed metal lunch boxes traditionally were carried by factory employees and construction workers, but Aladdin and other makers found the curved shape made an excellent young person's landscape, ocean scene, or starry sky. Despite the more earth-bound adult concerns of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and the Kennedy assassination, The Jetsons box and bottle showcase the metal lunch box at the zenith of its design life and its popularity among school children.
The Jetsons was an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on ABC from 1962 to 1963 and in reruns for decades after. The primetime sitcom was set in Orbit City in the distant future and focused on the Jetson family – father George, who works at Spacely Space Sprockets, mother Jane, a homemaker, children Judy and Elroy, robot maid Rosie, and their dog Astro. Despite the high-tech gadgetry, labor-saving devices, flying cars, and space colonization of the Jetsons’ world, the series presented the family as a normative American nuclear family of the era, dealing with many of the same issues with work, family, and neighbors faced by the protagonists of The Honeymooners, Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best. The Jetsons featured many futuristic technologies that have now become commonplace - video calling, tablet computers, robotic vacuums, smart watches, flatscreen televisions, drones, and holograms – as well as many others that seem misguided or still far-off such as flying cars, high quality instant food, robot housekeepers, and communities built on pillars in the sky.
The series drew from a rich American literary and entertainment genre of futuristic science fiction from Edward Bellamy’s 1887 utopian novel Looking Backward to the pulp and comic book adventures of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, not to mention contemporary space travel entertainment like Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Americans in the early 1960s were fascinated by the technological innovations of the Space Age and the brighter future promised by the flood of devices, services, and improvements that marketed “better living through chemistry” and material progress. The broad economic growth and prosperity of the post World War II era had allowed many middle-class Americans to purchase luxury goods and participate in leisure activities beyond what seemed possible in the difficult 1930s and 40s. Advertisers marketed new and more inexpensive consumer goods as modern, sleek, and forward-looking, while the NASA space program and race to land a man on the moon captured the world’s attention. The Jetsons premiered amidst this techno-utopianism and seemed to capture the national mood.
Date made
1963
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.22.01
nonaccession number
2003.3070
catalog number
2003.3070.22.01

Hopalong Cassidy Lunch Box

This heavy-gauge steel lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries in 1950. It was the first lunch box to bear a licensed image, and helped Aladdin Industries launch a new product line that would last for decades.
Description (Brief)
This heavy-gauge steel lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries in 1950. It was the first lunch box to bear a licensed image, and helped Aladdin Industries launch a new product line that would last for decades. Hopalong Cassidy was a TV, radio, and comic series in 1950, and the frenzy for Hopalong Cassidy merchandise led to more than 100 companies manufacturing more than $70 million dollars worth of Hopalong Cassidy products, earning the star William Boyd more than $800,000 in 1950 alone.
Date made
1950
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.07
nonaccession number
2003.3070
catalog number
2003.3070.07

Campus Queen Lunch Box

This Campus Queen steel lunch box was manufactured by King Seeley Thermos Company in 1967. This Campus Queen lunch box features a magnetic game kit on the back, taking you from study hall to the prom, with stops at the Soda Fountain, Movies, and Beauty parlor.
Description (Brief)
This Campus Queen steel lunch box was manufactured by King Seeley Thermos Company in 1967. This Campus Queen lunch box features a magnetic game kit on the back, taking you from study hall to the prom, with stops at the Soda Fountain, Movies, and Beauty parlor. This lunch box also has the distinction of being featured in the music video for Cyndi Lauper’s 1984 number one hit, “Time After Time.”
Date made
1967
maker
King Seeley Thermos Company
ID Number
2001.3087.13
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.13

Twiggy Lunch Box

This vinyl-clad, cardboard-core lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1967. It has a hinged white plastic handle and metal snap for lid. The box is lavender, and features images of Twiggy modeling several outfits on the lid, along with head shot that has her iconic look.
Description (Brief)
This vinyl-clad, cardboard-core lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1967. It has a hinged white plastic handle and metal snap for lid. The box is lavender, and features images of Twiggy modeling several outfits on the lid, along with head shot that has her iconic look. Twiggy was one of the first international supermodels, so famous that she even had her own Barbie doll! This lunch box was just one of many pieces of memorabilia that bore Twiggy’s image at the height of her fame.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1967
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.25.01
nonaccession number
2003.3070
catalog number
2003.3070.25.01

Stars and Stripes Lunch Box

This steel domed lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1970. The lunch box features a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible blue, plastic handle.
Description (Brief)
This steel domed lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1970. The lunch box features a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible blue, plastic handle. The lunch box is decorated with large white stars on a blue lid and red and white vertical stripes on the sides and bottom of the lunch box, evoking the American flag.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970
maker
Aladdin Industries Incorporated
ID Number
2001.3087.17.01
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.17.01

Auto-Race Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1967. It has a hinged lid, with a button press closure, and a red plastic, collapsible hinged handle.
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1967. It has a hinged lid, with a button press closure, and a red plastic, collapsible hinged handle. The lunch boxes features colorful action scenes of auto racing on the top and sides and a magnetic auto racing game on the bottom.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
King Seeley Thermos
ID Number
2004.3009.21
nonaccession number
2004.3009
catalog number
2004.3009.21

Superman Lunch Box

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1978. Released on the heels of the 1978 Superman movie, this lunch box shows the Daily Planets newsroom on the back, featuring images of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen.
Description (Brief)
This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1978. Released on the heels of the 1978 Superman movie, this lunch box shows the Daily Planets newsroom on the back, featuring images of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen. The other side shows an image of Superman flying high above Metropolis in all his costumed glory.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1978
maker
Aladdin Industries
ID Number
2001.3087.26.01
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.26.01

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Lunch Box

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1979. The lunch box features images from the television show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Description (Brief)
This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1979. The lunch box features images from the television show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ran from 1979-1981 on NBC, and revived the character originally created in 1928 because of the success of Star Wars and other science fiction at this time.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1979
maker
Aladdin Industries
ID Number
2001.3087.27.01
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.27.01

Happy Days Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1977. The lunch box features imagery from the TV show, Happy Days. Happy Days ran from 1974-1984 on ABC, and was one of the most popular shows of its time.
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1977. The lunch box features imagery from the TV show, Happy Days. Happy Days ran from 1974-1984 on ABC, and was one of the most popular shows of its time. It served as the genesis for iconic spin-off series like Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1977
collected for nmah
Smithsonian Institution
maker
Thermos
ID Number
1988.3160.58
catalog number
1988.3160.58
nonaccession number
1988.3160

The Beverly Hillbillies Lunch Box

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1963. It features colorful action scenes from the television series The Beverly Hillbillies, on the lid, back and the sides.
Description (Brief)
This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1963. It features colorful action scenes from the television series The Beverly Hillbillies, on the lid, back and the sides. The Beverly Hillbillies ran from 1962-1971 on CBS, and was of the most successful shows of the 1960s. It held the number one spot in the Nielsen ratings its first two years, and received multiple Emmy nominations.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1963
maker
Aladdin Industries
ID Number
2001.3099.02
nonaccession number
2001.3099
catalog number
2001.3099.02

Batman and Robin Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1966. The lunch box features images of the comic strip version of Batman and Robin that ran from 1966-1974.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1966. The lunch box features images of the comic strip version of Batman and Robin that ran from 1966-1974. These Batman and Robin strips took on the some of the campy nature of television’s Batman, but also introduced some of the series most interesting storylines.
Date made
1966
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.01
nonaccession number
2003.3070
catalog number
2003.3070.01

Land of the Giants Lunch Box

This metal lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1968, and includes a thermos bottle. The lunch box features imagery from Land of the Giants, a television show that ran on ABC from 1968-1970.
Description (Brief)
This metal lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1968, and includes a thermos bottle. The lunch box features imagery from Land of the Giants, a television show that ran on ABC from 1968-1970. The show was produced by Irwin Allen, known for other science fiction and adventure classics like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, and The Time Tunnel. This show centered around the adventures of the crew of the spacecraft Spindrift, marooned on an alien planet whose residents, while humanoid, were 72 feet tall.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1968
collected for nmah
Smithsonian Institution
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
1988.3160.59
catalog number
1988.3160.59
nonaccession number
1988.3160

Popeye Lunch Box

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1980. The lunch box has a red and yellow design depicting colorful action scenes and characters from the cartoon, Popeye on the exterior.
Description (Brief)
This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1980. The lunch box has a red and yellow design depicting colorful action scenes and characters from the cartoon, Popeye on the exterior. Popeye and Brutus are depicted arguing over Olive Oyl on one side, and engaged in an arm wrestling contest on the other.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1980
maker
Aladdin Thermos Company
ID Number
2001.3087.32
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.32

Roy Rogers Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1955. The lunch box features images of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, who starred in The Roy Rogers Show from 1951-1957.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1955. The lunch box features images of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, who starred in The Roy Rogers Show from 1951-1957. Roy Rogers was Thermos’s first entry into the arena of officially licensed lunch box merchandise, and early Roy Rogers boxes sold over 2 million units.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1955
depicted
Rogers, Roy
Evans, Dale
maker
American Thermos Bottle Company
ID Number
2001.3087.03
nonaccession number
2001.3087
catalog number
2001.3087.03

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Lunch Box

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1954. As one of the earliest metal lunch boxes, it served as a template for future designs with large colorful images of licensed fictional characters.
Description (Brief)
This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1954. As one of the earliest metal lunch boxes, it served as a template for future designs with large colorful images of licensed fictional characters. This box features images from Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, a television show that aired on all four major networks from 1950-1955. Tom Corbett, Space Cadet also appeared as a book series, comic strip, and radio program. The back of the box features a diagram on the solar system, complete with distances from earth.
Date made
1954
maker
Aladdin
ID Number
2003.3070.18.01
catalog number
2003.3070.18.01
nonaccession number
2003.3070

The A-Team Lunch Box

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1983. This lunch box features the characters from the television series, The A-Team on the exterior.
Description (Brief)
This tin lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1983. This lunch box features the characters from the television series, The A-Team on the exterior. The A-Team ran from 1983-1987 on NBC, and the box shows some of the explosive action that The A-Team was known for.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1983
maker
King Seeley Thermos
ID Number
2004.3009.01
nonaccession number
2004.3009
catalog number
2004.3009.01

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.