14 Things Every ’70s Kid Had in Their Lunchbox

Forget fancy lunch bags and organic snacks. If you were a kid in 1970s, your lunchbox was heavy, noisy, and packed with pure awesomeness.

It wasn’t just about what you ate; it was about scoring the best trades at the lunch table and showing off the coolest cartoon characters.

Were you a Scooby-Doo kid or more of a Wonder Woman fan?

From smashed sandwiches to sticky pudding cups, every item told a story. Here’s a look at all the classic things every ‘70s kid had crammed inside their trusty lunchbox.

Metal Lunchboxes with Thermoses

A true ‘70s lunchbox was almost always made of metal, and it came with a matching thermos tucked inside a metal clip.

These weren’t plain, boring boxes either. They were decked out with the hottest characters of the time, like Scooby-Doo, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Charlie’s Angels. Having a lunchbox with your favorite show was basically a status symbol at school.

If your box got a little dented or scratched? No big deal—that just showed you were a seasoned lunch warrior.

The thermos inside wasn’t just for soup. It could hold anything from chocolate milk to SpaghettiOs, depending on how busy your mom was that morning.

The glass inside the thermos was fragile, though, and one wrong drop meant you’d spend the rest of the year with a rattly, broken thermos that still somehow managed to do its job. The colorful screw-top lid that doubled as a cup made lunchtime feel a little fancy.

Trading sandwiches or chips was common, but the lunchbox itself? Totally off-limits.

If you had the latest Planet of the Apes or Muppets lunchbox, you better believe you guarded it like treasure.

PB&J Sandwiches Wrapped in Wax Paper

Before fancy plastic baggies became the norm, sandwiches were often wrapped up snugly in good old-fashioned wax paper.

A classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich was the king of the ‘70s lunchbox. It was easy, quick, and didn’t require refrigeration.

The peanut butter was usually thick and a little sticky, paired with grape or strawberry jelly that sometimes leaked through the bread by lunchtime. There were no “natural” peanut butters with the oil sitting on top—just the processed, easy-to-spread kind that stuck to the roof of your mouth.

And no kid expected fancy artisan bread either. Most sandwiches were made with soft white bread that practically melted as soon as you took a bite.

Sometimes moms would get a little creative and swap out the jelly for honey, or throw a banana into the mix. But no matter what, PB&J was a dependable lunchbox star that most ‘70s kids could count on.

Snack Pack Pudding Cups

Snack Pack pudding cups were a lunchtime dream come true. Back then, these weren’t the plastic cups you see today—they were actually made out of metal!

You needed a spoon and a little muscle to dig into one, and sometimes the edges were sharp enough to give you a nasty little cut if you weren’t careful.

Chocolate and vanilla were the most popular flavors, but there were also butterscotch and banana versions that rotated through kids’ lunchboxes.

The pudding wasn’t super smooth like today’s versions. It had a thick, hearty texture that stuck to your spoon—and your ribs.

Getting a Snack Pack felt like winning the lunchbox lottery. Kids loved showing them off to their friends and would sometimes even trade one for a pack of cookies or a handful of candies.

There were no expiration-date worries; the thick metal kept the pudding good for what felt like forever, and no one cared much about preservatives back then anyway.

Chips in a Folded Paper Bag

Before single-serving chip bags became the norm, chips usually came from a big family-sized bag at home and got tossed into a folded-up piece of waxed paper or a plain brown paper lunch sack.

You could spot someone’s lunch by the greasy little spot forming on the outside of the bag by mid-morning.

Lay’s and Wise were big brands, but Doritos were really the cool kid’s chip by the mid-‘70s.

If you were lucky enough to have Nacho Cheese Doritos in your lunch, you had instant street cred. Some kids even got Bugles or Fritos, which they’d stick on their fingertips like little edible claws during lunch.

The downside of chips in a paper bag was that by the time you sat down to eat, they were often crushed into a pile of salty dust.

But that didn’t stop any ‘70s kid. They’d pour the crumbles straight into their mouth like champions.

Hostess Twinkies or Ding Dongs

No ‘70s lunchbox was complete without something ridiculously sugary tucked in for dessert, and Hostess ruled supreme.

Twinkies, Ding Dongs, HoHos, and CupCakes were the treats every kid dreamed about during math class.

Twinkies were spongy yellow cakes stuffed with an unidentifiable but delicious creamy filling. Ding Dongs were little chocolate-covered hockey pucks of goodness, wrapped in shiny foil. And the original Hostess CupCakes had that unforgettable white squiggle of icing across the top.

Parents didn’t stress too much about sugar intake back then.

If you opened your lunchbox and saw a Hostess treat, you knew it was going to be a good day.

Some kids tried to eat their dessert first. But the real pros saved it for last, savoring every sticky bite while bragging to their friends about it.

Apples (Usually Bruised)

Fresh fruit made an appearance in the ‘70s lunchbox, but it wasn’t exactly glamorous. Apples were the most common because they didn’t need to be peeled and could survive a morning in a backpack without total destruction… most of the time.

Of course, by the time lunch rolled around, that apple was usually bruised from bouncing around on the school bus or getting squished between books.

Some kids didn’t mind and just ate around the bruises, while others would try to trade their sad apple for a cookie or some crackers.

Sometimes bananas made their way into lunchboxes too, but they were even riskier. A banana trapped in a metal lunchbox all morning was basically a squished, brown mess by the time it hit the cafeteria table.

So, bruised apples remained the safer—and far more common—fruit option.

Kool-Aid in the Thermos

Before juice boxes and Capri Suns took over the world, the ultimate lunchbox drink was homemade Kool-Aid.

Moms would whip up a batch with a packet of powder, a mound of sugar that would make today’s nutritionists faint, and a pitcher of water.

Kool-Aid came in electric shades of red, purple, orange, and green. Grape and Cherry were favorites, but daring kids would get crazy combinations like Tropical Punch or Lime.

Packed into the thermos, the Kool-Aid would stay reasonably cool until lunchtime and give every sip a sugar rush straight to the brain.

Sometimes the Kool-Aid would leak a little into the lunchbox, giving everything a faint fruity smell. And if you didn’t screw the thermos lid on tight enough?

Well, you were eating a soggy sandwich that day. It was a small risk for a sweet reward.

Vienna Sausages or Deviled Ham

Some lunchboxes had a little meat surprise tucked inside—not a fresh turkey sandwich or ham slices, but canned meat classics like Vienna sausages or deviled ham. These came in tiny tins with pop-top lids and a long shelf life that made them easy to stash.

Vienna sausages were little pale tubes of meat that looked a bit questionable but tasted salty and satisfying.

Kids would either eat them straight out of the can or pile them onto crackers.

Deviled ham was a mushy, spicy ham spread that came in a tiny paper-wrapped can and was meant to be spread on white bread or Ritz crackers.

These meat treats weren’t for every kid, but those who liked them really liked them.

Cheese Cubes and Ritz Crackers

Simple but satisfying, cheese cubes and crackers were a big hit in the ‘70s lunch scene.

Moms would cut up blocks of cheddar or American cheese and toss them into a baggie along with a handful of buttery Ritz crackers. It was a fun DIY lunch before “Lunchables” ever existed.

You could stack the cheese on the crackers, eat them separately, or make little sandwiches.

Some kids even got fancy with slices of salami thrown in. But just plain cheese and crackers was a dependable, low-fuss option.

If the cheese got a little sweaty by lunchtime, no one cared. It still tasted good. Plus, it made kids feel a little more grown-up than if they were just eating a PB&J and pudding cup.

Homemade Cookies (Sometimes a Bit Crumbly)

A real badge of honor for any ‘70s lunchbox was finding a baggie of homemade cookies tucked next to your sandwich. Chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter crisscrosses—they were all fair game.

These cookies weren’t always picture-perfect.

Sometimes they crumbled a bit, especially after getting jostled around in a backpack. But that didn’t make them any less tasty. A handful of cookie crumbles was just as welcome as a perfectly round cookie.

Homemade cookies also had that warm, buttery smell that instantly made you the envy of anyone nearby.

Kids would sometimes try to trade store-bought cookies for a homemade one. But if you were smart, you held onto your prize.

Raisins in a Little Box

Sun-Maid raisins in their tiny red box were a super common lunchbox item in the ’70s. They were marketed as a healthy version of a treat, but let’s be real: most kids saw them as a last resort when all the good stuff was gone.

The little cardboard box was fun to open, but sometimes the raisins inside were stuck together in a big chewy clump.

You’d have to poke and pry them out with your fingers, which inevitably left you with slightly sticky hands for the rest of lunch.

Even though raisins weren’t the most exciting item, they were reliable. Plus, there was always a chance to trade them with a friend who really, really liked raisins—which was rare but possible.

Jelly Sandwiches Without Peanut Butter

For kids who didn’t like peanut butter, the simple jelly-only sandwich was the alternative. It was usually made with the same squishy white bread and a thick smear of grape or strawberry jelly.

The problem was that without peanut butter to anchor it down, the jelly tended to soak through the bread and make a sticky mess by lunchtime.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was still sweet and satisfying.

Some moms got creative and added a slice of margarine or butter to keep the jelly from soaking through so fast. It didn’t always work, but it was worth a shot when you were facing a soggy sandwich situation.

Carrot Sticks and Celery

Every once in a while, a ‘70s mom would decide to sneak some veggies into the lunchbox.

Carrot sticks and celery were the go-to options because they didn’t need refrigeration and could handle the morning shuffle pretty well.

The carrots were usually peeled, but sometimes still had that earthy garden taste. Celery often came with a smear of peanut butter down the middle if your mom was feeling fancy, or just plain if she was in a hurry.

Kids would either gobble them up first to get them over with or push them to the side until the very end.

Either way, seeing a few carrots in the lunchbox was practically a rite of passage in the ’70s.

Marshmallow Treats

If you opened your lunchbox and found a homemade Rice Krispies Treat wrapped in wax paper, you basically hit the jackpot. These sticky, chewy bars were easy to make and even easier to devour.

Sometimes they were cut into neat squares, and other times they were lumpy blobs, depending on how much of a rush your mom was in the night before.