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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090807211925im_/http://americanhistory.si.edu/images/spacer.gif) |
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 drink containers from
the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American
History explores that colorful heritage.
This display is located in the Museum's
lower level, in the Stars and Stripes Cafe. The display
includes approximately 50 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.
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Shirley
Jones, of the Partridge Family,
places the Partridge Family lunch box
into Taking America to Lunch.
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Meadowlark
Lemon, formerly of
the Harlem Globetrotters, places the Harlem
Globetrotters lunch box into Taking America
to Lunch.
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June
Lockhart, of Lost
in Space and Lassie, places the
Lost in Space lunch box into Taking
America to Lunch.
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