During the 1950s and 1960s Disney lunch boxes became some of the most desired items that an American school kid could ask for. However, it was much earlier - in 1935 - when the Geuder, Paeschke and Frey company from Milkuakee, Wisconsin licensed the Mickey Mouse character, that Disney's association with tin lunch boxes was born. This particular box came without an accompanying vacuum bottle but did have an attractive slide-out tray and carrying handle. Seen as collectibles, these boxes now fetch several thousands of dollars at auction.
By the mid 1950s Disney was actively capitalizing on merchandise and had licensed hundreds of items. In 1956 the Aladdin Company - which had previously seen huge success with its Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox - started designing and manufacturing boxes for Disney. During this period Aladdin enjoyed considerable success, especially when rival Adco ceased production after a series of lawsuits with Disney.
Due to the high cost of licensing, Aladdin also diversified by canada goose jackets introducing generic lithographed images on different shaped boxes and this gave rise to the now famous dome shaped design. The most notable of these is, without doubt, the Walt Disney School Bus lunchbox which featured an array of characters including Pluto, Dumbo, Jimmy Cricket and last but not least Mickey Mouse himself. Unsurprisingly, these too have become desirable items among collectors of vintage lunch boxes and command prices in the $300-$500 range depending on condition. Upon original release Universal sold around 9 million of them priced at $2. 69 each. This makes them the biggest seller of all time.
Following this massive success the history of Disney lunch boxes could only really take a downward path. There were 450 unique designs produced from 1950 to 1985 mainly from the "big 3" manufacturers of Thermos, Aladdin and Ohio Art. For collectors there are many other non-Disney pieces which hold greater interest during this period and for Disney themselves other items of merchandise became more lucrative.
That said Disney really did play a huge part in "front running" the lunch box market in 1935 and if anything it is perhaps surprising - even accounting for the Second World War - that it took a further 15 years for the craze to really take off.