Most elementary school kids of the 1970s would recognize the click of a metal lunchbox opening. Back then, we had two choices: eat a cafeteria-cooked meal or bring a lunch from home. For those of us who mostly brought our own lunch, the choice of lunchbox for the new school year was a big deal.
While I don’t remember every lunchbox I carried with me, I remember my first and last. In first grade, my lunchbox was shaped like a barn. I loved animals, so I enjoyed seeing their faces at lunchtime. The thermos was secured in the barn’s roof.
My last lunchbox was in sixth grade, the final year of elementary school. The Rescuers movie was a big summer hit, and that was my lunchbox choice. I especially liked the larger plastic thermos that was popular by then. Can you believe our thermoses were glass-lined? Sounds dangerous, but we survived.
Inside the lunchbox was usually a sandwich sliced in half, an apple or some other fruit, a thermos of milk, and a cookie for dessert. We’d often trade items with our friends. Lots of trading happened in the days after Halloween, when I was allowed to bring one or two pieces of candy.
Sandwiches in my lunchbox included peanut butter with watermelon pickles—a specialty item made by my Grandma Eunice—tuna or chicken salad—my mom’s homemade—or slices of bologna.
Occasionally, I’d get a cafeteria-cooked meal—especially on pizza day. We’re talking small, square pizza that fit in the lunch tray and was covered with tomato sauce, cheese, and crumbled ground beef. Not what you would find in a favorite pizza restaurant, but I liked it anyway.
We could see the next week’s cafeteria menu posted on a bulletin board—no Internet back then—and decide if there was an upcoming meal worth buying. Aside from the pizza, my favorites were sloppy joes and fish sticks. I didn’t buy meals that often, but my mom let me splurge sometimes. When I was in first grade, the lunch milk carton cost 10 cents, and the full meal deal was 40 cents.
The cafeteria was also where our class could earn good-behavior tickets. Those could be traded in on pizza parties and field trips, including the year-end trip to Venetian Pools.
Our sixth grade class had an especially tough time with behavior. Our teacher was adept at negotiating with the lunchroom staff, insisting that the whole class shouldn’t suffer if just one student was causing a ruckus that day. Never mind if it was a different student every day. Needless to say, we got our share of pizza parties and had an amazing year-end celebration at Venetian Pools, thanks to our teacher’s determination.
Speaking of lunchroom staff, family members might find it interesting to know that my Grandma Eunice worked at a school cafeteria. It wasn’t at my school, as she was retirement age by the time I came along. But that was one of the jobs she took to support herself as an artist and musician.
As I moved on to junior high, the lunchbox went by the wayside. I brought my lunch in a brown bag and bought either a half pint of chocolate milk or a lemonade out of a machine. Most of my friends did the same, although a few bought the cafeteria lunch.
By the time we got to high school, all my mom’s efforts to raise me on healthy eating went out the window. Lunch was a microwave burrito and Twinkie from the cafeteria with a soda from the vending machine. Most of my friends did the same.
Only one friend, who had been raised on a farm, did the full meal deal from the cafeteria. Another friend pocketed her 35 cents that would have purchased a burrito. She chewed gum instead. She probably had a pretty nice stash saved up by graduation.
Today’s school lunch scene seems totally different, with food bars and healthy vending machines. But the friendship times of sharing and laughter remains the same. Friendships seemed to grow a lot during that short midday lunchtime break, and I’m grateful for the friends who shared that time with me.
Exploring Generations 