Want to see how things have changed since the 1950's? Just take a look at this lunchbox advertisement from 1956 I found on Lunchboxpad.com. It is simply amazing to reflect on how vastly different things are today - I could literally write a book just on this one single advertisement, but I'll spare you and take note of just a few:
- "Mom-prepared" is simply way too politically incorrect to appear in an ad in today's world. What makes dad so damn special that he can't prepare a lunch for the kids?
- Take a good look at what the boy is wearing. Today, a sports jacket with matching shorts and socks is a perfect way to ensure your little boy develops a complex from the relentless ridicule and beatings he will receive at school.
- The lunch box themes of Daniel Boone and Wild Bill Hickok appear so quaint as compared to the Bratz and X-Men lunch boxes of today.
- Take a gander at how mom is dressed. She doesn't have pearls on like Mrs. Cleaver, but she's decked out pretty good (and we can probably assume she's not dressed for work).
- "The Highest Standard in Vacuum Ware" - what the hell is vacuum ware? I looked it up in Wikipedia and came up empty. I can tell you it's not cheap plastic crap made in Taiwan that will be busted on your kid's first week of school.
- What's in the lunchbox? Let me guess... a sandwich, maybe a pickle, perhaps a thermos of soup. I can tell you what's not in the lunchbox: Fruit Roll-Ups, Gogurt, Cheetos Paws, Capri-Sun, and Lunchables.
Look, I know it was no utopia, but it's still fun to make the comparisons.
Those old metal lunch boxes had such a cool smell too!
ReplyDeleteAlso, wanna know Mrs. Cleavers secret to being so well put together? Diet pill speed baby! Will put the pep in Mom's pumps ANY day! : P
Wow, you must be a youngin'. Vacuumware: the thermos!!
ReplyDeleteVacuum ware was what Aladdin had to call those items that keep things cold or hot. "Thermos" was a trademarked name belonging to another company...at least until June 1970, when a court ruled that it had become a common term, like "aspirin" (originally a brand name).
ReplyDeleteAnd what we learn as we live...Barbara Billingsley has stated she wore a strand of pearls playing June Cleaver because she felt the nape of her neck wasn't attractive--and the heels were a necessity, to remain taller than Dow and Mathers as they grew.
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