A Brief History of The Lunchbox

For something so ordinary, the lunchbox carries a lot of history. In Australia, it’s a symbol of self-sufficiency — a quiet expectation that parents will feed their own children. But look overseas and it’s a different story: free school meals, tiffins riding trains through Mumbai, and food programs that feed millions.

This story traces how we got here — from damper and dripping wrapped in paper, to the milk-for-kids scheme of the 1950s, and the insulated bento boxes of today. Along the way it touches on class, culture, nostalgia, and the quiet politics of what ends up between two slices of bread.