Post by Maria Godoy, The Salt at NPR Food (2/9/14)
The Beatles are not only considered the top of the heap when it comes to musical acts of the 20th century, they're also apparently the kings of the lunchbox.
After John, Paul, George and Ringo shook their little mop tops on The Ed Sullivan Show, 50 years ago this Sunday, American lunchbox manufacturers figured out, hey, the kids dig 'em. Let's put these boys on lunchboxes. And so in 1965, The Beatles became the first pop music group ever to grace a metal lunchbox, according to a Smithsonian exhibit from several years ago. Pictured above, the light-blue metal box is widely considered "one of the Holy Grails" of the lunchbox-collecting world, says Barbara Crews, the collectibles expert for About.com.
It came with a thermos and some serious street cred, says Beatles historian Bruce Spizer. Last year, a mint condition version of that lunchbox sold for $1,625. Yeah, you read that right.
"Anyone who is despondent they didn't keep theirs" from childhood, says Spizer, "they need to remember how cool it was to go to school carrying that lunchbox and be the envy of their friends."