There probably aren’t any real surprises here – metal is more popular than vinyl, having the original thermos to accompany the lunchbox is important, and examples from the 1950s, 60s and 70s are the most popular.  And, of course, the more iconic the image captured, the better!  Dudley Do-Right will get you around $3500, but Superman, of course, can fetch over $11,000, especially early images like the 1954 one pictured above.  And, of course, it’s hard not to love the kitschy appeal of The Monkees, perhaps appropriately in vinyl.  From Roy Rogers to Star Wars, there is really something for everyone, so, if you’re getting bored with brown bags, get on eBay, track down your first-grade lunchbox and bring a little zip to your lunch hour!

1954 Adco Superman lunchbox

Seeing all the back-to-school sales makes me long for my old metal lunchbox.  Maybe it’s still out there somewhere, picked up by a Holly Hobbie collector.  (I hope they were able to get my name in Mom’s bright red nailpolish off the front.)  Of course, metal lunchboxes are probably classified as weapons in elementary schools today, but collectors are still snatching them up whenever they get the chance!

There probably aren’t any real surprises here – metal is more popular than vinyl, having the original thermos to accompany the lunchbox is important, and examples from the 1950s, 60s and 70s are the most popular.  And, of course, the more iconic the image captured, the better!  Dudley Do-Right will get you around $3,500, but Superman, of course, can fetch over $11,000, especially early images like the 1954 one pictured above.  And, of course, it’s hard not to love the kitschy appeal of The Monkees.  From Roy Rogers to Star Wars, there is really something for everyone, so, if you’re getting bored with brown bags, get on eBay, track down your first-grade lunchbox and bring a little zip to your lunch hour!

Pencil in Time for Collecting: Vintage Pencil Boxes

Spirit of St Louis lithographed tin pencil case

My other favorite part of going back to school was getting a pencil box and filling it.  (There was no joy in shopping for clothes.  I think I probably just need to say “corduroy” and you’ll all know what I mean….)  Pencil boxes just seemed so neat and organized, and all those new pencils and crayons seemed so fresh and hopeful somehow.

Pencil boxes are still really collectible, although there aren’t as many of them out there, perhaps because they’re so useful for organizing tool drawers and desk supplies, even if you’re not in grade school.  Still, the database offers some interesting options, like a carved antique example or the historic tin box with Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of ’76 that’s pictured above.  We’ve also got Flash Gordon, Pinocchio, Girl Scouts and more, so even if you can’t hang onto pens, you can find a way to store them in style!

-Hollie Davis, Senior Editor, p4A.com

Georgian tooled leather trunk, circa 1760, bearing the label Edward Smith

With economic woes, many of us are opting for a staycation instead of a vacation, which, if you actually remember recent attempts at travel, might start to seem like a good idea.  Modern travel is an ordeal – long lines, TSA regulations, overbooked flights, but historically, travel was, well, no day at the beach either!  Traveling was a filthy, dirty endeavor – coal soot, mud, and dust were everywhere, highwaymen posed a constant threat, and then there was the luggage!

Of course, if you were fortunate enough to travel with a Louis Vuitton turn-of-the-century trunk like this one, you probably didn’t have to hoist it aboard yourself, but still, some unfortunate porter had to haul them around.  Even beautiful tack-decorated examples like the one pictured above, from the George III-era had to weigh a ton, and there’s little hope of getting ballgowns, wigs and petticoats in this tiny salesman’s sample.  Sea chests at least have rope handles on the ends for dragging them up and down the plank, although that’s probably little compensation for the other joys of a 19th-century sea voyage.  No, at the end of the day, travel is, in many ways, much easier, or at least much cleaner, but it’s still nice to imagine shoving one of these trunks over to a pushy baggage screener and walking off!

-Hollie Davis, Senior Editor, p4A.com

A round horn snuff box with Italian mosaic of dog in lid; image courtesy of Skinner, Inc.

Europeans found luxuries galore in the New World.  Gold may have been what brought them here, but the advantages of warmer, temperate climates friendly to agriculture offered a wealth of products like sugar, cotton, and tobacco.  Tobacco, long popular with Native Americans for spiritual ceremonies and pain relieving properties, traveled back to Europe, where it soon became all the rage.

Of course, then, as now, tobacco was not an inexpensive vice.  (The phrase “up to snuff” is thought to have originated as a way to say someone was worldly and affluent, or in other words, able to afford snuff tobacco.)  And snuff then was very different from snuff products today; American snuff is moist and placed in the mouth, but historically, European snuff was dry and sniffed like cocaine.  Keeping this powdery substance dry and making it neatly portable resulted in the development of snuff boxes, and as with most accessories, the range of materials, colors, and styles quickly became staggering!

19th century German silver snuff box with cameo on lid; image courtesy of Pook & Pook, Inc.

There are, of course, the normal run of beautiful boxes made from precious metals, with delicate engravings and cameos, but there are also detailed enamel and mosaic examples, like the one pictured above.  Burl also makes pretty boxes with a warm glow, but some of the more modest ones, the papier-mache examples, are my favorites, because they often have printed paper scenes of classic buildings, early American landscapes, and views of cities like New York and Baltimore.  They make nifty pill boxes, and even a huge collection is easy to store.  Take a look around – might find some right under your nose!

-Hollie Davis, Senior Editor, p4A.com