I've always been a big fan of lunch boxes. I carried one all throughout elementary school, the bulky plastic kind with things like My Little Pony and Popples and Minnie Mouse on the cover. They were always filled with the yummiest snack foods (although perhaps they were not the healthiest), like Doritos and Handi Snacks and Little Debbie Cakes. When I got to middle school, I began to feel like lunch boxes were too juvenile for my new, cool 12-year-old self, so I carried my lunches in brown paper bags. Once I got to high school, and inspired by the Marilyn Manson Spooky Kid subculture, the lunch boxes came right back. I had a Dennis the Mennis box and a Minnie Mouse box that I eventually covered in band stickers and cut-outs from magazines I used to read. I haven't added to my collection much since then unfortunately, only 1 new Hello Kitty lunch box, but maybe i'll start again soon. This inspiration comes from the Smithsonian's American History Museum's latest exhibit - Taking America To Lunch!
The exhibit has lunch boxes on display from as far back as the 1800s and as varied as The Flying Nun and Kung Fu to Kiss and the Harlem Globe Trotters. What an awesome idea for an exhibit! My only qualm is that they only display lunch boxes as recent as the 1980's, which leaves out all my childhood boxes from the early 1990's. The museum's gift shop even has a few commemorative boxes available to purchase (although you could also find some of these gems on eBay.) If you're in D.C., definitely check it out and maybe pack a lunch and have a little picnic out on the National Mall afterwards!
No comments:
Post a Comment