Lunchbox | Beatles memorabilia

According to a Smithsonian Museum exhibit, "...in 1965, The Beatles became the first pop music group ever to grace a metal lunchbox". But you already knew that because you carefully packed your lunch each morning, with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - on Wonder bread - inside the one thing you could flaunt…your Beatles Lunchbox.

"Not just a nostalgia item, that box represents the intersection of two American pop cultural forces of the era: The Beatles themselves, of course, and the rise of the Lunchbox as an expression of self-identity for kids (and a way to market to them). 'A lunch box was not merely a lunch box, but a statement of who we were,' as the Smithsonian's exhibit, Taking America to Lunch, put it." - Maria Godoy, National Public Radio.

The lunchboxes were manufactured at Aladdin Industries, 703 Murfreesboro Road, Nashville, Tennessee, where they lit fountains with colored lights each night. The Lunchbox and thermos, known as the 'blue' Lunchbox (as opposed to the 'Yellow Sub lunchbox and thermos' in 1968), were made from 1965 to 1966. "The blue 1965 lunchbox was the first item I wanted to collect," states collector and author Jeff Augsburger.

The Lunchbox was made of metal and measured 8¼" x 7½" x 4" (21cm x 19cm x 10cm). Painted aqua blue with a thermos and a vacuum cap with a cup, it had Beatles faces embossed on one side and the group playing instruments on the opposite side in Shea Stadium suits. Aladdin's artistic director Elmer Lehnhardt used photos by Dezo Hoffmann to create portraits of the Fab Four. 

John's guitar and Paul's bass are on one side panel, with George's guitar and Ringo's drums on the other. Along the bottom edge of the Lunchbox were floating heads of the Beatles, and on the top were their signatures. The Lunchbox sported a plastic handle.

"I still have my Beatles lunchbox from when I was in elementary school in the mid-60s. It's not exactly in mint condition anymore. In addition to the normal wear and tear, it's festively decorated with some Yellow Submarine stickers that I got with some Scholastic book order when the movie came out. And, of course, I don't have the thermos anymore, which would make it more valuable. But it's priceless to me anyway!" - Meryl (online comment)

The lunchbox companion, the blue thermos bottle, was 7" tall and 3¼" in diameter. Aladdin trimmed the bottle with "The Beatles" and pictures of the group wrapping around both sides. It came with a matching light-blue screw cap, a light-blue cup cap, a name/address sticker, a paper about the thermos, and an instruction sheet on how to "get years of lasting service" from the thermos. In the collecting world, the thermos is challenging to find. Reproductions were made by Factory Entertainment in 2013. The clue that reveals a replica is a modern barcode on the bottom.

An alternative 1965 lunchbox design came in a prominently oval-shaped, light-blue soft-vinyl box labeled 'Girl's vinyl' or 'The Beatles Brunch Bag.' The package was marked "Aladdin Industries Inc., Nashville, Tenn. Copyright 1965 NEMS Enterprises, Ltd," under the catalog model number 18679. It was 8" x 3¾" x 7" with a top zipper and a black plastic strap. The box featured the Beatles group on the front and was initially packaged with the same blue thermos as the metal lunchbox. The thermos bottle had Beatles faces on one side and the group playing instruments on the opposite side. Aladdin also issued a lunchbox after their official manufacturing license expired. In 1967, they made a Brunch Bag, and Thermos called ‘Combo,’ with an image of two guitarists and one drummer combo on a similar aqua blue background.

Air Flite also made a lunchbox for the U.S. market. This item featured Beatles images and signatures, with "Air Flite" printed in the lower-right corner of the picture. It came in green, red, and brown and did not include a thermos.

Aladdin Industries Inc.

The agreement was with Aladdin Industries. The date of the agreement for the manufacturing license was 1965.

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