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 exhibition is no longer on view in the museum. The Museum closed on September 5, 2006 for major architectural renovations and is scheduled to reopen by fall 2008.

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Taking America to Lunch is made possible by Thermos.