TV Show Lunchboxes That All The Cool Kids Had
By | December 20, 2018
Child's lunchbox with painting of characters from the TV series 'Welcome Back Kotter' featuring Travolta, Hegyes, Palillo, Jacobs, & Kaplan. (Photo by Henry Groskinsky/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
In grade school, few things were as important as a kid's choice of TV show-themed lunchbox -- it was a matter of identity. It was standing up and saying this is what I love. What was your show -- was it Star Trek? Welcome Back, Kotter? The Brady Bunch?
Look at the flip side -- did you ever get caught having to carry a lunchbox that you didn't like? Say you had aged out of H.R. Pufnstuf but your parents wouldn't buy you a new one to reflect your maturity. Or you lost your Monkees lunchbox and had to tote an old Mr. Rogers until you could get a replacement. Or your mom scored a hand-me-down from the neighbor's kid, and it was The Flintstones -- and you had to take it to school. This is the stuff of nightmares.
Cool kids from the groovy sixties could flaunt their coolness in the school cafeteria by carrying a lunchbox with their favorite television show on it. As TV, still, a novelty in the 1950s became more and more popular in the 1960s, TV show executives realized they could capitalize on the popularity of their shows by marketing merchandise with favorite characters on it. These TV-themed lunchboxes from the sixties will remind you just how cool it was to be a kid in the groovy 1960s.
Star Trek
In the mid-sixties, there was nothing cooler than Star Trek. The space age, high-tech series had everything a futuristic kid loved…epic battles, cool gadgets, spaceships, alien monsters, strange planets, and a cool cast of space explorers. Who wouldn’t want to bring lunch to school in a box with Captain Kirk and Spock on it?
Green Hornet
As far as superheroes go, The Green Hornet was a cool alternative to the traditional Batman or Superman. Played by Van Williams in the sixties TV show, The Green Hornet was popular because he was brave, mysterious, and cool…plus he had Bruce Lee portraying his sidekick, Kato. The action-packed series was a hit, and so was the lunchbox inspired by the show.
Get Smart
The wisecracking and bumbling spy, Maxwell Smart, in the hit TV show, Get Smart, was funny in a slap-stick, spoofy way. At the height of the Cold War, what kid didn’t dream of being a spy? That’s just one of the reasons why the Get Smart lunchbox was a hit. The other reason was Agent 99!
The Munsters
The spooky, All-American family, the Munsters, was a great lunchbox choice for kids who were goth before goth was a thing. The dark and macabre sitcom was humorous and relatable, even though the cast of characters were all ghoulish monsters with strange habits living in a creepy haunted mansion.
Gunsmoke
The long-running TV series aired throughout the entire decade of the sixties. It was extremely popular, especially among kids who loved the wild, wild west. The gunslingers of Gunsmoke were the perfect combination of cowboys and deputies, and there was just enough action…gunfights and runaway horses…to keep fans coming back for more.
Laugh-In
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In debuted in the late 1960s and appealed to the hippie generation with its short skits and comedy vignettes. The show spawned new slang and catch phrases, like 'sock it to me!" Although it was more for the PG-13 crowd, the variety show was hip and cool…and so was the Laugh-In lunch box.
