If you thought back-to-school shopping was just about the new cords, Baby Janes, and pencil cases, then we hate to say it: you are out to lunch. Created in 1935 by Geuder, Paeschke and Frey for generations, the lunchbox was to school kids what small bejeweled dogs are to starlets today.The must-have accessory.

While spam on white might have been traded for P.B. and J., the one thing no kid was willing to part with was the carrier of said sandwich. So coveted were these food-suitcases, it’s ironic the schoolyard bully demanded the meeker kid’s lunch and not their lunchbox. (Lunch money might get you a pack of smokes, but a vintage Beetles’ lunchbox in mint condition would get you a cool grand.)

In 1972, concerned moms petitioned to have metal lunchboxes banned from schools for fear these one-day hot collectors’ items could be used as weapons in schoolyard brawls. (Don’t laugh. Have you ever reached for someone else’s ham on rye and had a metal lunchbox slammed on your hand? Ouch!)