At the lunch tables of the 1970’s, lunch boxes were everything.
Kids of the ’70s used their lunch boxes as a way to show off their interests.
Whether you had Star Wars or a Scooby Doo lunch box, your lunch box said a lot about you. Children were proud to show it off as an extension of themselves and their personality.
These days, lunch boxes have become collectibles. If you’re a vintage shopper, or you know someone who is, you might come across one of these lunchboxes and get a flashback to your days on the playground.
10. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt
In 1976, Hanna Barbera had a one-hour slot on ABC that they named the ‘Scooby Doo/Dynomutt hour’. While Blue Falcon and Dynomutt don’t enjoy the same level of lasting fame as Scooby Doo, it was a hilarious superhero cartoon that had many of the same charms as Scooby and the gang.
In its day, Dynomutt had a fairly large fan base and Hana Barbera quickly allowed lunch boxes and thermos to be made, and they have become one of the most sought-after lunch boxes that collectors can buy.
9. Scooby Doo
Scooby Doo and his gang of mystery solving friends was, and remains to be, one of the greatest cartoons of all time. Children of all generations love Scooby, but there’s no doubt that the show was never more popular than it was with the children of the 70’s who got to see the first episodes every Saturday morning.
As a result, there are a ton of different Scooby Doo lunch boxes, and a number of them were among the most highly sought-after collectibles.
8. Happy Days
Throughout the 70’s, sitcoms became one of the most popular and enduring forms of television around. Amidst an abundance of sitcoms, Happy Days quickly became one of the most popular, and has been fondly remembered by nearly everyone who was alive to see it air. To satisfy their legions of fans, the people who created Happy Days produced an assortment of lunch boxes featuring characters from the show.
The most common one had a picture of the Fonz and standing beside his motorcycle, although there were other variations as well.
7. Hardy Boys
A classic mystery show, The Hardy Boys books and the subsequent television show was on the minds of thousands of children across America. Due to its popularity, it’s no surprise that Frank and Joe Hardy found their way onto lunch boxes.
The show didn’t last for that long, but it was certainly long enough to engrain itself into public memory, and the vintage lunch boxes they left behind are a testament to that.
6. Charlie’s Angels
When Charlie’s Angels first hit television in 1976, it instantly revived ABC’s lineup and earned some of the best ratings in the country for the first few years of the show’s existence. Of course, critics ragged on the show for the thin plotlines and skimpy wardrobes, but audiences never seemed to care.
Like so many other pop culture phenomenon, Charlie’s Angels capitalized on their success by creating lunch boxes for their younger audiences. Today, these lunch boxes are a serious collectors item and can sell for over a hundred dollars.
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5. Battlestar Galactica
Just like Star Wars and Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica capitalized on the Apollo 11 mission and America’s subsequent fascination with space. First aired in 1978, it only lasted one season but quickly gained a cult following who bought up every piece of merchandise they could find.
There was only one design of the Battlestar Galactica lunch box but bringing it to school with you would have been massively exciting for any fan of the show.
4. Evel Knievel
This motorcycle jumping American icon was impressive for adults… For kids, he might as well have been superhuman. No one had ever seen someone make reckless disregard for their own safety so fun to watch. The bikes he rode certainly weren’t made for big stunts, and it didn’t take long before he achieved virtual superhero status among the American public.
He had action figures, a launchable toy motorcycle and, of course, some of the coolest looking lunch boxes ever made. If you had one when you were a kid, you definitely had one of the coolest lunch boxes at school
3. The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man reminds us why our childhood was awesome.
The show was very popular during its run and introduced several pop culture elements of the 1970s, such as the show’s opening catchphrase (“We can rebuild him; we have the technology,” voiced over by Richard Anderson in his role of Oscar Goldman).
2. KISS
Known for their eccentric makeup and heavy rocking style, KISS was a spectacle that was appealing to Americans of all ages in the 70’s. Adults could go see them in concert or had the money to buy their records. But many bands, including KISS, realized that kids loved their music
as well.
That meant that the band needed to create more practical merchandise that a child could ask their parents for. Their solution? Create lunchboxes.
1. Star Wars
When Star Wars released in 1977, it instantly captured the imagination of America in a way that few movies have ever been able to match. Between the special effects, the alien characters and the imaginative places that served as backdrops for the plot, Star Wars quickly developed an obsessed fan base that wanted some kind of merchandise.
For many kids, that merchandise came in the form of lunch boxes, and you were sure to feel like the coolest kid on the playground if you had one.
