Retro Images of the Week: Thermos Vacuum Bottles

Here at Retroplanet.com we are surrounded by all things retro. Not only the things we sell but original items and collections that decorate our offices. We thought it might be interesting each week to bring you a photo and information of an interesting, and maybe unusual, retro item we have kicking around. Please note these items are not for sale.

Pictured here are three Thermos brand vacuum bottles from the 1964. They were manufactured by the King-Seeley Thermos Division in Norwich, Connecticut. Invented in 1892 by Sir James Dewar, the Thermos was originally referred to as the “Dewar flask”. Dewar was a scientist at Oxford University who developed the invention while finding a way to store different gasses in his lab. In 1904 the vacuum flask was produced for commercial use and was used on some very notable expeditions, such as Shackleton’s exploration of the South Pole (1907) and by some of the greatest pioneers of flight, including the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and Count Zeppelin.

They made their way into everyday use, and have been an important item found at picnics and taken to school by every child since 1953. The first lunch box set manufactured by Thermos with a vacuum bottle was introduced that year. The steel lunchbox featured the likeness of the famous Western entertainer, Roy Rogers.