Dan Ziejacollects material . Civil War weaponry . pic disc . Autographs . It does n’t really weigh what it is . betting odds are he collects it .
Photos : Jim Merithew / Wired.com
But of all the many , many thing Zieja has stuffed intoMelodies & Memories , his eclectic record storage in this suburb of Detroit , the coolest has to be thelunch corner .
All 3,000 of them .
“ I ’m stopping at 3,000 , ” Zieja says . “ I ’m not collecting metal lunch box anymore because there are only about eight ever made that I do n’t have . ”
Zieja , 54 , claims he ’s mystify the largest collection on public video display in the United States . perchance even the world . Still , it ’s hard to sound a identification number like 3,000 when talk about tiffin boxwood .
perhaps this will help :
“ If I lead from kindergarten through 12th grade and took a different lunch box to schooltime every twenty-four hours , I ’d still have something like 500 left over . ”
Six hundred and sixty , actually . We did the maths .
Zieja ’s lunch boxes occupy two rooms in the record store he open up 22 geezerhood ago . One is dedicated to metal , the other to vinyl group .
“ Vinyl tiffin boxes are deserving more because it ’s hard to find them in good condition , ” he said . “ It ’s just vinyl group over cardboard . ”
Although Zieja can tell you just how many lunch box he has and explicate the diachronic or cultural meaning of each one , he ca n’t tell you which one he buy first .
“ Honestly ? I do n’t know , ” he says with a shrug . “ I ’m like a junkman . I ’ve just picked them up over the age . ”
This is the first lunch box as we hump it . Oh sure , the first of them appeared in the mid-19th C when people toted meal in small basketball hoop and boxes . ( Japanesebento boxesgo back even further . ) But this baby from 1935 is the first licensed character lunch box .
Geuder , Paeschke and Frey manufacture the modest tin . It has a tray inside , but there ’s no nursing bottle . Those did n’t come along until later . Mickey Mouse Lunch Kits sell for 15 or 20 cents when novel . Today they ’ll fetch a few hundred toa few thousand dollars . Zieja pick his up 10 or 15 years ago .
“ I ’ve got a ally in Rhode Island who is a lunch boxful dealer , ” he says . “ I develop it from him . The Mickey Mouse tiffin box is really scarce . It ’s worth a raft . ”
No , it ’s not for sales event .
The first lunch box based on a kid ’s television show appeared in 1950 when Aladdin slapped aHopalong Cassidy decal on a alloy loge . You could get it in red or racy . It was an instant smasher , and Aladdin sold 600,000 of them – at $ 2.39 a pop – in the first year alone .
With television catch on , manufacturing business rushed to capitalize on link - in . The golden era of the lunch box had begun ( manufacturers sell 120 million of them between 1950 and 1970 ) , and telly - theme loge would remain a raw material .
This box seat is based onSupercar , a British sci - fi Thomas Kyd show that ran from 1961 until 1962 . It ’s another one of the many boxes Zieja pick up somewhere , somehow over the years . That ’s unremarkably how it happens .
“ If I see one I do n’t have , which is uncommon , I pick it up , ” he says . “ I guess I ’m a complete - ist . I ’ve incur to have one of everything . ”
Lunch boxes did n’t change much between the fifties and 1960s , but the bottle inside them did . The first were steel vacuum feeding bottle with deoxyephedrine liners andBakelitecups . Those gave way to plastic bottle with froth insulating material .
Plastic first reared its surly head sometime in the 1950s when manufacturers started using it for the handgrip . The first vinyl dejeuner box appeared in 1950 , and injection - influence credit card box became progressively common through the sixties .
Metal stay the rife material , however , making box like this Rocky and Bullwinkle model from 1962 super indestructible . This one is n’t for sale , but others like it will run you $ 400 or more .
Beatles lunchboxes are especially valuable , with some fetching five human body or more when you’re able to get hold them . This box is from 1968 , and Zieja will get you have it for $ 475 .
“ It ’s the only lunch box I have three of , ” Zieja says .
speak of theBeatles , Zieja has baseball game sign by each of the Fab Four . He spent twelvemonth get a complete set .
“ Paul McCartney was the tough to cut across down , ” he says .
Kiss lunch box , like the dance orchestra , wax and waned in popularity over the long time . Back in 1977 , when everyone and his pal was buy Love Gun and Kiss was still a few eld from irrelevancy , this was one of the boxes to have .
need one ? It ’s yours for $ 300 .
luncheon box from the band ’s late years are n’t nearly as collectable . This one , commemorate thefarewell tourthat was n’t a farewell tour , will cost you just 35 bucks .
This is an example of a “ dome ” style lunch box , which Aladdin acquaint in 1957 . It offered more space for artwork like the awing action dissipate on this lose In Space box from 1966 or ‘ 67 .
ramify over $ 500 and carry your lunch in mode .
This Popeye - theme box from 1962 is one of the diadem jewels in Zieja ’s collection . box in tip - gratuity shape are deserving several hundred dollars .
“ This is one of three original Popeye boxes made over the years , ” he says . “ It ’d decidedly be one of my favorite . ”
The 1954 Superman is another pet . It ’s the holy grail of lunch box collection , and priced consequently .
“ A mint example sold for $ 15,000 or $ 20,000 , ” Zieja say .
The gold geological era of lunch box ended in 1987 when metal finally gave way to charge card . It seems somehow appropriate that the last metal box carried John Rambo ’s similitude .
Thermos brought metal boxful back in 1998 but sells a relatively little telephone number each class . fictile boxes , like this one pimpingThe Empire Strikes Back , are cheap to make .
Aladdin commence embossing luncheon boxes in 1963 to ply a raised surface for more engaging art . The first embossed box was Huckleberry Hound .
ThisBattlestar Galacticalunch box seat is even sleazy than the original show ’s limited outcome . Fifty bucks take it home .
Even speculative telecasting appearance get lunch box . This Fall Guy box is from 1981 . Nice one will set you back $ 70 or so , but this one ’s a little rocky around the edges , so Zieja is asking $ 40 .
Aladdin made this Batman and Robin box in 1966 .
“ I collect Batman memorabilia , ” Zieja tell . “ I wish I had aBatmman Utility Beltfrom 1967 . ”
The irony of Zieja ’s tiffin box collection is that he is n’t that crazy about luncheon box . surely , he likes them , but he is n’t passionate about them .
“ My passion is baseball , ” he say . “ Baseball memorabilia is my grown thing . I in reality own Ty Cobb ’s shaving outfit , his pinochle stage set and one of his belt warp . ”
And then there ’s the baseball cards . He ’s been collect them since 1963 . Do n’t leave autographed baseball game . Jackie Robinson . Babe Ruth . U.S. presidents .
“ I ’ve got single - signed baseballs from every United States President from Hoover to Obama , ” he says . “ And William Taft . He was the first Chief Executive to throw out a first pitch . ”
ThisStar Warsbox from 1977 count like it ’s been worked over by a Wookie , so it ’s priced at $ 50 . A minty one will turn tail $ 300 or more .
Here ’s another classic – a 1979 Buck Rogers box . Like the Star Wars box , it ’s seen good days and is priced consequently – $ 50 . Find one in mint precondition and wait to ante up three or four sentence that much .
Zieja ’s private stash fills two rooms at the back of his record memory board . Those that are for cut-rate sale are displayed around the shop , along with700 picture discs , an interesting compartmentalisation of Beatles memorabilia ( novelty Fab Four wigs , anyone ? ) and all manner of enchanting bric - a - brac . You could pass a twosome of hours in his store looking at it all . Trust us – we did .
“ I ’m a accumulator . I ’ve get under one’s skin a illness , ” Zieja says with a laughter . “ A serious , serious problem . ”
He ’s kidding about that . He ’s in reality a down - to - earth guy .
“ I ’m a normal family guy with a married woman and two tyke , ” he says . “ It ’s not like I go home and learn Star Trek every night . ”
As for the rest of his collection of stuff , what is n’t tucked aside in his disc shop is keep at dwelling .
“ Someday my kids will have a big garage sale , ” he sound out .
Image course credit : Jim Merithew /Wired.com
Wired.com has been expanding the hive psyche with technology , scientific discipline and geek acculturation news since 1995 .
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