Smithsonian - National Museum of American History, Behring Center
Taking America to Lunch
The Other Box
Taking America to Lunch
 
Assorted lunch boxes

For generations, the lunch containers many of us have hauled to school and work have reflected American culture. No meal has received more cultural attention to its transport than our lunch. Of all the bags, boxes, trays, cans, and cartons carried over the past century, the most message-laden is the child's metal lunch box. This selection of boxes and their drink containers from the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History explores that colorful heritage.

This small exhibition is located in the Museum's lower level, in the Stars and Stripes Cafe. The display includes approximately 75 illustrated metal lunch boxes and beverage containers dating from the 1890s through the 1980s. This Web site offers a sampling of these objects.


Taking America to Lunch is made possible by Thermos.

 

Photograph of Shirley Jones

Click to enlarge imageShirley Jones, of the Partridge Family, places the Partridge Family lunch box into Taking America to Lunch.

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Photograph of Meadowlark Lemon

Click to enlarge imageMeadowlark Lemon, formerly of the Harlem Globetrotters, places the Harlem Globetrotters lunch box into Taking America to Lunch.

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Photograph of June Lockhart

Click to enlarge imageJune Lockhart, of Lost in Space and Lassie, places the Lost in Space lunch box into Taking America to Lunch.

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