Remember the days when every kid at school had a metal lunchbox? The cool kids were lugging this one around…
This King Kong lunchbox by Thermos was released in 1977 to coincide with the media blitz that accompanied the release of the movie. They sure got their money’s worth with the John Berkey artwork, as it appears on all sorts of merchandise.
This image of Kong on Skull Island was used on some of the movie posters, but it’s nowhere near as iconic as the art of Kong straddling the twin towers.
Apparently, the artist, John Berkey, painted several versions of King Kong, but the art department wanted to make sure that the ape looked the same in all instances, so they literally cut and pasted the twin tower face onto the other paintings, like the one of Kong in the jungle and this one of Kong grabbing a subway train.
This lunchbox is one of the newer additions to my collection. These are pretty common and can be bought for as low as $20 in good shape, but when I saw this one with the stickers inside, I knew I had to have it. The box might not be in the best shape, but the thought of a kid in the cafeteria opening this up every lunch hour just brings a smile to my face.
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“Don’t be alarmed, ladies and gentlemen. Those chains are made of chrome steel.” All month long, I will be showing off King Kong collectibles from my personal collection in a series called KONGTOBER, so if you’re a fan of King Kong and movie monsters, I think you’re going to like what you see.
I love old lunchboxes. The design & colors of this one are really nice; I especially like the side art where Kong is scaling the tower; awesome perspective.
Totally had that one!
I knew you were one of the cool kids, Michael! 😉
Very cool! I am terrified that if I were ever to buy a vintage lunchbox, I would go completely off the deep end collecting them and never have room in my home ever again.
Had it loved it.