A TV cowboy appeared on the 1950 Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox. A favourite character became another reason to choose the container that carried lunch.
Article
A favourite hero appears on a school lunchbox. Food is prepared at home, but the exterior shows whom its owner likes. Aladdin’s Hopalong Cassidy metal lunchbox, introduced in 1950, put popular culture prominently on a food container.
Aladdin put the Western hero Hopalong Cassidy on a metal lunchbox. The cowboy children watched on television now appeared on something they could take to school. His image remained in view as they carried it by the handle or opened it at lunchtime.
Character merchandise already existed. On the Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox, a screen hero occupied the front of an object carried to school each day. Choosing a container could depend on who appeared outside as well as what it could hold.
The Smithsonian and The Henry Ford hold examples of these lunchboxes. Alongside their materials, handles and closures, the objects offer a look at television and character merchandise of the period. The girl in the lead photograph carries her father’s plain lunch pail. It is a comparison image, not a photograph of the character lunchbox.
People still attach characters to bags or put stickers of favourite figures on drink bottles. The function stays the same, but the picture can change which object someone chooses. The Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox did this by putting a familiar cowboy on the front of a metal container for lunch.
Sources and editorial notes
Smithsonian · Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox
The Henry Ford · Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox
Editorial note: Facts were checked against the linked material. Interpretations are MUADAILY’s editorial perspective. Image: John Vachon · Public domain · Historical photograph of a girl carrying her father’s plain lunch pail, for comparison with character lunchboxes.
Machine-translated from Korean. Read the original.
