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Do you remember the old school metal lunchbox that came with its own thermos bottle? Embellished with a favorite TV show character, action figure, or comic strip superhero, these sturdy workhorses lasted through years of use and abuse (That’s why you can still find them as collectible items on eBay). Before the days of drink boxes and water bottles, the good old-fashioned matching thermos could hold a cold or warm beverage of choice. The cap on the top also could function as a bowl, and on a cold winter day, you might have brought soup and crackers to lunch.
Predating my time with the thermos, the prior generations of thermoses that came with lunchboxes had a mirror on the inside that some report would break into shards of glass upon opening. Can you imagine the lawsuits if that were the case these days!
I was just talking with an old girlfriend, who was preparing to send her son off to his first day of kindergarten and she said these old style lunchboxes are nowhere to be found. Nowadays we have the lunch bag or tote. These are usually soft-sided coolers bags that are great for keeping lunch items fresher longer. Although the old lunchboxes do have a certain retro appeal, I don’t think that today’s kids would miss their clunkiness -- I remember the metal clanking against my legs on my long walk home from the bus stop.
And what might be the differences in the lunch you would find inside? To start with, whole milk has been replaced with skim or yogurt smoothies, and back then we knew nothing of the ubiquitous 100-calorie packs. And I don’t know about you, but back when was a kid I had never heard of a hummus wrap sandwich, while hummus seems to be a pretty well-liked choice among today’s children. Ethnic foods like hummus, tortillas, and flatbreads have grown in popularity and have become mainstream choices for making sandwiches. In the meantime that old standby the peanut butter and jelly sandwich has disappeared from many a lunch menu due to the greater awareness of the severity of nut allergies.
I eat a pretty varied diet now but back in the day my favorite was a simple PB, hold the J. I don’t know how much more boring you can get! That was my lunch every day of the fourth grade. Of course by then it had become uncool to tote my Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox and a plain brown paper bag was the thing.
Although nuts are largely absent from current menus, lunch today seems to be full of much more exciting choices like the hummus flatbread sandwich. Parents have become increasingly creative, as their kids have become exposed to new and different foods among their peer groups. Please feel free to share in the comments section below any new ideas for spicing up the new school lunch.
One of my lunchtime favorites to this day remains a warm bowl of soup. You can still send your kids to school with nourishing soup; you’ll just have to buy the thermos separately!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1091-lunchbox-evolution/
The New School Lunch "Box"
Do you remember the old school metal lunchbox that came with its own thermos bottle? Embellished with a favorite TV show character, action figure, or comic strip superhero, these sturdy workhorses lasted through years of use and abuse (That’s why you can still find them as collectible items on eBay). Before the days of drink boxes and water bottles, the good old-fashioned matching thermos could hold a cold or warm beverage of choice. The cap on the top also could function as a bowl, and on a cold winter day, you might have brought soup and crackers to lunch.
Predating my time with the thermos, the prior generations of thermoses that came with lunchboxes had a mirror on the inside that some report would break into shards of glass upon opening. Can you imagine the lawsuits if that were the case these days!
I was just talking with an old girlfriend, who was preparing to send her son off to his first day of kindergarten and she said these old style lunchboxes are nowhere to be found. Nowadays we have the lunch bag or tote. These are usually soft-sided coolers bags that are great for keeping lunch items fresher longer. Although the old lunchboxes do have a certain retro appeal, I don’t think that today’s kids would miss their clunkiness -- I remember the metal clanking against my legs on my long walk home from the bus stop.
And what might be the differences in the lunch you would find inside? To start with, whole milk has been replaced with skim or yogurt smoothies, and back then we knew nothing of the ubiquitous 100-calorie packs. And I don’t know about you, but back when was a kid I had never heard of a hummus wrap sandwich, while hummus seems to be a pretty well-liked choice among today’s children. Ethnic foods like hummus, tortillas, and flatbreads have grown in popularity and have become mainstream choices for making sandwiches. In the meantime that old standby the peanut butter and jelly sandwich has disappeared from many a lunch menu due to the greater awareness of the severity of nut allergies.
I eat a pretty varied diet now but back in the day my favorite was a simple PB, hold the J. I don’t know how much more boring you can get! That was my lunch every day of the fourth grade. Of course by then it had become uncool to tote my Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox and a plain brown paper bag was the thing.
Although nuts are largely absent from current menus, lunch today seems to be full of much more exciting choices like the hummus flatbread sandwich. Parents have become increasingly creative, as their kids have become exposed to new and different foods among their peer groups. Please feel free to share in the comments section below any new ideas for spicing up the new school lunch.
One of my lunchtime favorites to this day remains a warm bowl of soup. You can still send your kids to school with nourishing soup; you’ll just have to buy the thermos separately!
Serves/Makes: 2
- 1/2 cup sliced cucumbers
- 2 tablespoons hummus
- 4 strips roasted red peppers
- 2 leaves red leaf lettuce
- 1 round Indian naan or pita bread
Cut the flatbread in half. Spread the hummus on both halves of the flatbread. Split the cucumber amount in half, placing them on the flat bread.
Top with the lettuce and red peppers and assemble like a sandwich. Cut in half.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1091-lunchbox-evolution/