Old lunchbox my parents found...

Hello all!


My name is Jon, and I am here on behalf of my parents who have found a lunchset from an elder lady in the area for about $25.00. It is a beautiful lunchbox thought to be from the 40s-50s', maybe even earlier. It is made in spain, and it looks it has never been used once. Inside of this ornate box, we have almost a complete set of silverware and early duralex glassware. The glassware still has the original stickers, and the plates have the packing paper. This set looks like it might have been on display for years and years, but never bought. It has silver forks and knives, as well as baby spoons. The symbol on the back of the silverware looks like "Iraya" or something similar I cannot make it out as there is still some age to it. There is even an original warranty card to send in with a claim should any of the glassware break. I am just trying to find as much about this as possible. Any information would be appreciated. Have any of you all come across something like this before?

 

Have you tried searching by using "picnic basket?"

 

The "silverware" is stainless, btw.

 

'60s or later

Little interest in picnic baskets these days

 

Wich is a shame if you ask me. Not much style in peoples lives anymore.

 

Found this very similar basket on an Australian site. 160$ AU = $116.00 US. Sounds very ambitious to me unless there is more demand for picnic sets in Australia.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/horsley/collectables/large-and-impressive-picnic-set/1079158068

 

Picnic set, indeed. Those sell rather well here. The retro people like them, as do rockabilly types. Tends to be mostly younger buyers.

This one will be 1950s or 60s. Spain really didn't have the infrastructure or will to make non essentials until tourism got serious. This wasn't made for local people: many were far too worried about having food at all in the 1940s and 50s, whilst Franco was starving much of the country. And a Spanish picnic anyway is FAR more robust, and would include wine.

I'd have grabbed it for $25 for sure.

 

The glassware maker incorporated in 1959

More likely 1970 vintage

 

Duralex dates back to 1939.

 

VICASA registered in 1959

 

True, as a subsidiary of the French Duralex company. The style isn't as late as 1970, though.

The cutlery says Inoxidable, by the way. Stainless Steel.

 

Terry found 1959 as the Vicasa. Here is the dates I found for Duralex. Duralex was patented in 1945 and commercially popular in the 1950s-1960s. With 1959 for Vicasa:


English:
"Duralex in Spain
This brand of tempered glass tableware, patented by Saint-Gobain in 1945, met a huge commercial success in the decades of 1950 to 1960, both in France and abroad. Spain has been one of his favorite areas, from the establishment in 1959 of the Vidriería Castilla SA (Vicasa, which currently is Verallia). Vicasa will drive assembly factories bottles and cans of Spanish Group glassware, historical Saint-Gobain subsidiary in Spain."

Spanish:
"Duralex en España
Esta marca de vajilla de vidrio templado, patentada por Saint-Gobain en 1945, conoció un gran éxito comercial en las décadas de 1950-60, tanto en Francia como en el extranjero. España ha sido una de sus zonas predilectas, a partir de la constitución, en 1959, de la Vidriería de Castilla S.A. (Vicasa, que en la actualidad es Verallia). Vicasa será el motor del conjunto de las fábricas de botellas y de botes del Grupo Cristalería Española, filial histórica de Saint-Gobain en España."
http://www.saint-gobain350aniversar...al-maroc-algerie-et-tunisie/duralex-en-espana

--- Susan

 

The patent is actually later than the use of the name: https://www.duralexusa.com/Duralex.html