Lunchboxes in the 80s
The ban on metal lunchboxes goes national, and in 1985, Rambo
is the last metal lunchbox ever produced. Character licensing is still
riding high, and any television show that appeals to children is fair
game for fodder - lunch, that is. The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team and Knight Rider all get the lunchbox treatment. Saturday morning television, kept alive by the popularity of Smurfs and subsequent like-minded kidvid, continues to dominate lunchboxes from Care Bears to He-Man.
But lunchboxes also begin the long slow journey into night. No longer
the barometer of children’s lives, lunchboxes generally cease to
feature fads and trends and instead exist strictly to promote
television, films, music and companies such as McDonalds and Campbell’s
Soup. The transition into plastic also lowers the value of boxes for
collectors, as the artwork and design become less and less
sophisticated. |
