Hopalong Cassidy Lunchbox

Ken Steinhoff's Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox at Mark Steinhoff's

Brother Mark is as big a pack rat as I am, except that he’s a lot neater about it. I was looking around in his St. Louis kitchen last night and noticed an old red lunchbox in the corner.

“Hey, is that my old Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox?” I asked.

“Do you want it back?”

I said no, but then got to looking at what they were going for on line. Mine has a few miles on it, but some mint ones are going for as much as $200.

Big seller for Aladdin Industries

I was in good company with my lunchbox:  in 1950, Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the first lunchbox to bear an image, causing sales for Aladdin Industries to jump from 50,000 units to 600,000 units in just one year. In stores, more than 100 companies in 1950 manufactured $70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products, including children’s dinnerware, pillows, roller skates, soap, wristwatches, and jackknives.

What lunchbox did you have in grade school. Do you still have it?