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Vintage Homemade Sandwich Spreads for Lunch Boxes

I am a treasure hunter.  I hunt treasure, collect treasure, display treasure, and even sell a few treasured finds.  One day, many years ago, at a local estate auction, I noticed a little tin recipe box sitting atop a box lot, surrounded by a bunch of vintage tablecloths. As I was outbid on the tablecloths, I did manage the box lot with the tin recipe box.  I was immediately hooked on a new collection…..vintage recipes.    Little pieces of our mother’s past. I don’t cook, but it seemed such a shame to toss these dear recipes out.  The more auctions I went to, the more little recipe boxes I found.  Stashing them here and there around the house, I soon found I was running out of room. Fortunately, I discovered blogs.  Now I can share my ever growing collection of old fashion recipes with everyone. I sure hope you enjoy them.  Most of these come from the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s, when we were all celebrating life with the great American Cookout and Carry In Dinners. All are handwritten or typed on recipe cards. What we ever did with our lunch boxes, I will never know.  What I wouldn't give for them now. Mom packed the best lunches, that little carton of milk, a baggie full of chips, a pleated baggie sandwich, and a pickle.  Lunch was great.  I only managed to find this one vintage lunch box pictured on this page.  I think, since our house was full of girls, dad must have brought this one home.  It was discovered in our attic. When I was a kid, my mom use to get up every morning, fix my lunch, pack it in a metal lunch box, and shoo me out the door.  Off to the bus stop I would go, swinging my lunch box, without a care in the world. Every year, I would get a new lunch box with my favorite TV character or TV show.  What lunch box you carried was always a big deal.

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Who did I want this year?  The lunch box could make ya or break ya with it's coolness factor, or lack there of. Lunch boxes and their contents were very powerful tools for social climbing in the fifth and sixth grade. The lunch itself was all important for making just the right impressions.  Trading lunches was as popular a sport then, as football is now. Searching for that extra special treat mom would pack for me, knowing it just had to be there.  A handful of chips in a baggie, a dill pickle, a sandwich in one of those Tupperware sandwich containers, ah there it was....homemade cookies, now I had trading power! I always went for the sci-fi lunch boxes, like Star Trek, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Munsters, and Addams Family. My sister was more refined with her Bobby Sherman's Here Comes The Brides, The Monkees, The Beatles, and the like. Well, we don't sell vintage lunch boxes here, but if you own one, you will find homemade vintage lunch box spreads and other lunch box treats here.  These recipes are taken from handwritten recipes found in little tin recipe boxes, family members, and friends.  All recipes were used in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. Now, here are some of those recipes. Sigh, didn't you just love your metal lunch box in the 1950's, 60's or 70's?  I know I loved each and every, now vintage, metal lunch box I ever owned.  I carried The Munsters, Bewitched, It's About Time, and The Flinstones.  My sister had The Monkees, Here Come The Brides, David Cassidy, and many many more.

Read, "The Story of the Missing Cookie Jar" by PenVampyre.  A delightful little Christmas story with mouthwatering warm tasty recipes for the most wonderful time of the year!     Read "Santa and the Magic Key", plus recipes for your holidays.  A story by PenVampyre

Helen Stone's Baloney Spread Recipe The following is my mother's recipe for baloney spread.

She made this spread with an old meat grinder, pictured above.  I remember standing there watching her every move, fascinated by the grinding process. It was like magic, all the pickles, pimento's and baloney grinding down with the swirl of a twisting handle.  Not to mention that I loved, LOVED this spread.  So I watched every move she made and remember these days fondly.  First she would grind bread through the grinder, this was to clean any rust or residue from the parts. Now, about 1 pound of baloney - She used the long rolled kind.  Baloney hunks disappear into the grinder, only to reappear at the other end falling to the big bowl beneath, next came pickles, whole sweet pickles straight from a jar.  Into the grinder they went.  Now, a little can of whole pimentos.  These were squishy, juicy and mom's hand would be covered with red juice running everywhere.  I remember this so vividly...lol...such a mess. Setting the above mixture aside, in a little sauce pan she would mix: 1 beaten egg, about 1 or 1 1/2 tablespoon's vinegar, about 1 or 1 1/2 tablespoon's water and a teaspoon or so of butter.  Cooked till thick on low heat, stirring all the time.  As soon as it would thicken up she would pour this mixture over the baloney-pickle-pimento combo, add a couple spoonfuls of Miracle Whip and stir it all together.  Sometimes I couldn't wait for the spread to cool and I wanted a sandwich right then, but she shooed me outside till the baloney spread chilled overnight. We would eat sandwiches for a week.  I loved this stuff and make it yet today. Try this recipe at least once, you are going to love it!

My sister was in love with Bobby Sherman, this is her actual lunch box from junior high school.  Go -  Smith Junior High School, located in Chillicothe, Ohio circa 1968 or 69..  Who was your favorite?

Cheese Spread Found in my grandmother's recipe box.  She dated this recipe, December 1965 2 packages old English cheese 2 eggs 2 cans Pimentos (ground) 2/3 cups ground sweet pickles 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon mustard Mayonnaise to suit (about 1.2 cup) Melt cheese in double boiler, beat eggs, grind Pimentos and pickles, mix eggs, pimentos, sugar and salt to cheese.  Cook in double boiler stirring constantly for about 20 minutes (or until thickens) Let cool and add mayonnaise and mustard after cooled.  The mayonnaise depends upon thickness desired.  Keeps in refrigerator for weeks.  Clarissa's She did not say when to add the pickles, but I am assuming it would be at the same time as the pimentos.

My sister was crazy about Bobby Sherman, but I was crazy about the Monkees, every single one of them, mind you....

Mary's Recipe of Pimento cheese Spread 1 Wedge of long horn cheese 1 Small can pimento 1 Small jar sweet pickles Put this thru food grinder, add mayonnaise 2 T. Sugar 1 T. Flour 1 T. Butter 1 Egg 1/2 tsp. Salt 1/4 Cup Vinegar 1/4 Cup Water

I found this at a Volunteers of America Thrift shop in 2005 or so.

Tangy Ham Spread 1 cup ground cooked ham 2 teaspoons horseradish 1 teaspoon instant minced onion 1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley. 1/4 teaspoon salt Dash cayenne pepper Dash pepper 1/4 cup mayonnaise Mix until combined.  Refrigerate several hours before serving so everything can mix. Delicious with corn chips.  Makes 1 1/4 cups.

This lunch box, was my cousins.  Lucky guy saved it all thee years.

Vintage recipe booklets, phamplets, books, and little tin recipe boxes, full of home cooking, old fashion creations of food.

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