Retro Disney Lunch Box from yesteryear.. with a Hanna-Barbera connection.

by Darrin Vindiola


So I recently flew back to Colorado for a week to help my parents with some pre winter projects on their house.  I was pleasantly surprised to be reunited with some old relics from my youth.  While working in my Dad's shed, I looked up on a shelf and noticed an old Disney lunch box.

I could not believe my eyes, and was flabbergasted that my Dad had held onto it for so many years!  He simply said "I'm not sure why I kept it, I just felt like I needed to".  I immediately took out my phone and snapped some pics to post here and on social media. When dear old Dad saw me snapping pictures and fondly examining the details of the lunch box, he told me to take it home with me if I wanted.  I eagerly obliged and thanked him multiple times.  Check it out..

I always loved this lunch box. I believe it was made in the late 1960s.  I was a sucker for anything Disney (always have been) and this lunchpail is an absolute work of art, that Disney collectors such as myself absolutely drool over.

In a day and age where retro looking lunch boxes are hitting the shelves left and right, if you really take a close look at these new boxes, there truly is no imagination or effort put into the designs on most.  Heck.. the same image is usually printed on both sides of the box, with very little if any art on the remaining panels.  This was not the case back in the day!  Check out the rest of this box..

I love how Mickey's nephews Morty & Ferdie and Donald's nephews Huey, Duey and Louie are peering out of the back windows.  Morty and Ferdie were a staple back when I was a kid.  I'm not quite sure why Disney has distanced them from cartoons etc in recent years.  I also love the Emergency door warnings. "OPEN FOR LUNCH ONLY".  HA!  Too cool.

Now C'mon.. they even added art of a bus chassis to the bottom of the pail!  Now that my friends, is attention to detail.  I swear Disney artists and creative teams used to give it a 110% when it came to merchandise.

Now.. here's an interesting part of this piece.  Notice the Sticker above Goofy on the front of the bus?   It has to do with a cartoon I hadn't given a second thought about in decades being, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines

This Hanna-Barbera cartoon focused on the efforts of Dick Dastardly and his canine sidekick Muttley who were always trying to catch 'Yankee Doodle Pigeon', a carrier pigeon who carries secret messages. His gang of baddies were called 'The Vulture Squadron'.

My older brother and I loved this Saturday morning cartoon show.  My brother so much so.. that he actually joined the Vulture Squadron, via a mail away fan club / membership kit!  This kit included a poster, Vulture Squadron Flight Diploma, Flight Book membership card, sliding 'Yankee Doodle Pigeon Decoder', clothing patch, and stickers.

Now the staunch collector in me wants to restore this lunch box to its former glory, or at least as close to original condition as I can get it.  However, I will simply never be able to bring myself to pull these stickers from the lunch box that my brother applied with his own hands as a wee young lad.  It's family history, and that is way more important and heartwarming, than simply possessing this beautiful piece of Disneyana from my childhood.

While I will clean it up and buy the matching Thermos for this lunch box, the stickers will stay put.  For sure.. it makes for some nice stories, and walks down memory lane.  I'm sure my late Brother would treat it the exact same way.  This will be the centerpiece for my slowly growing lunchbox collection, and it most likely always will be.

Thanks for swinging by.  If you have time.. check out the other kiddie lunch box I picked up while in Colorado.  See ya Real Soon!