Vintage Lunch Box Christmas

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As a little girl I have fond memories of many amazing hard working men in my family.  We lived in Bennion, Utah, which is very near the Kennecott Copper Mine.  A lot of family and friends worked at the mine.  Each day the men would go to work with their hard hats, metal toed shoes, metal lunch box in hand, and inside there would be a Thermos filled with milk from Whitbeck’s Dairy.

I remember watching my Aunt Leone make Uncle Doug’s lunch when I was at their home – and I was there a lot.  It was one of my favorite places to be, I felt loved and safe there.  She would make Uncle Doug some kind of sandwich – usually bologna and cheese, tuna fish with sweet pickles, or SPAM and cheese (SPAM was yucky then too).  And she used the yummy kind of bread my mom would never buy – “Wonder Bread”.  It was the BEST white bread that made perfect dough balls if you wadded it up, and boy did I LOVE to make and eat dough balls with my bread.  My Grandpa used to say, “the whiter the bread, the quicker you’re dead”, but Wonder Bread was so delicious to my young palate!  Aunt Leone used Miracle Whip instead of Mayonnaise – and I liked that too.  She also cut the bread on a diagonal from corner to corner instead of from top to bottom.  For some reason, her sandwiches just tasted better because of how she made them!  We didn’t have plastic saran wrap back then, we wrapped everything in waxed paper.  There was nothing better than a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper!

Lunch also included a big handful of “Clover Club” crinkled potato chips – also wrapped in waxed paper.  Personally I preferred the smooth chips, or even the barbeque flavored ones, but those seemed to be a luxury we didn’t get very often.  I had no idea at the time these were made right here in Kaysville, Utah where I live today! 

There were usually some carrot sticks, celery sticks, some green grapes, an apple or an orange as well. 

The other thing Aunt Leone put in EVERY day was a big huge slice of homemade chocolate cake!  She made one or two of these EVERY week.  Her secret ingredient – leftover mashed potatoes from Sunday dinner.  Sounds gross I know, but it honestly made the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted!!!  Uncle Doug’s favorite way to eat that was to put it in a glass, fill it with milk, and eat it with a spoon.  Now I have to say, that actually made me want to gag.  I am a purist when it comes to mixing my food.  I preferred my cake on a plate all by itself, actually I still prefer it that way.

This may all sound disgusting and nasty, but life was different then.  These men were hard workers who put in a full day of manual labor.  They got very few breaks, and pretty much only had time to eat their lunch, and go right back to work.  Some would eat right at the job site, others would sit in their trucks or cars – and air conditioning did not exist.  They didn’t have the convenience of running to Wendy’s for a double-cheeseburger, fries and a drink.  Fast food places were not on every corner back then, and the ones that were around, were expensive.  Going out to eat was a luxury, not the norm.  

You may wonder where I’m going with all this.  As I thought about what gifts I wanted to make for our kids this year, I came up with the idea to order these vintage Stanley lunch boxes with a Thermos.  Instead of a strange lunch no one would eat, I decided to make them into a Hot Chocolate kit, and then I added things to make s’mores as well.  Because of supply chain issues that were being reported in July and August, I ordered everything early!!!  I’m so glad, because not only did I get everything I needed, I also got Christmas finished in record time!  So what did I do with all that extra time?  I labeled EVERYTHING in the kits and personalized them for each individual family.  I learned how to cut and layer different colors of vinyl using my Cameo Silhouette.  I only use the Permanent OraCal brand of vinyl because it’s waterproof and more durable – ordered from Amazon.  

I had fun figuring out what to put in each kit.  This is what I came up with:

  • Stanley Lunch Box

  • Stanley Thermos

  • Stephens Hot Cocoa Mix

  • Wooden spoons to stir the hot cocoa with – Amazon

  • Muslin Bag for wooden spoons - Amazon

  • Mini Marshmallows - Orson Gygi in Salt Lake City, Utah

  • Milk Chocolate sprinkles - Orson Gygi

  • Cute plastic containers for the mini marshmallows and milk chocolate sprinkles - Amazon

  • Biscoff Cookies from Costco – these are so yummy dipped in hot cocoa!

  • King Leo Soft Peppermint Sticks – Amazon

  • Cute Kraft brown paper cups and lids for hot beverages – Amazon

  • Metal tablespoon to measure the hot cocoa mix – Amazon

  • Dark Burgundy Bandanna to use as a tablecloth by the fire pit or camp fire – Hobby Lobby

  • Roasting Sticks – Amazon

  • Graham Crackers

  • Bag of large marshmallows

  • Package of 6 Hershey’s chocolate bars

  • Dishtowel to clean up any spills

  • Canvas Bag to carry it all in – Amazon

The sky’s the limit on what you could include, and as I began to fill the lunch boxes, I thought of more things to add.  I labeled everything I could, either with vinyl or stenciled with acrylic paint. 

The stenciling was a new skill for me, and I had a lot of fun learning how to do that.  I love the internet for this purpose!!! 

You can learn how to do just about anything there, but be sure to research a few different options to make sure you learn how to do things correctly so they will last.  

I hope our kids and grandkids enjoy this gift, and make a lot of memories from it.  Yes, its purpose is a lot different than the way my Uncle Doug used it fifty plus years ago, but we can keep those memories alive by talking about these hard working men who gave so much to provide for their families.  Many of these men were Korean War, World War I and II veterans.  There is a reason they are known as “The Greatest Generation”.  They saw a need, signed up to do a job that needed to be done, went and did it without complaint – and some didn’t make it back home.  Those that did, suffered silently in regard to the things they witnessed. Many never talked about their war experiences, they just came home and went to work providing for their families.  Many did not get the opportunity to go to school after they returned.  There was a huge divide between white collar and blue collar workers back then.  As a kid, I thought every dad did manual labor, and I was proud of that.  So this Christmas gift is in honor of those valiant hard working men who sacrificed more than we will ever know, to live a better life than they did.  May we never forget!  Merry Christmas

Love Ya, Les ☺