Some Vintage Picnic Baskets Were Metal

This vintage metal picnic basket still has a sticker on it from the Ben Franklin department store. The picnic basket was most likely purchased in the 1950's. The plaid design was very popular. The Scottish lass dancing in the logo brings your attention to the brand name and complements the plaid design. I'm not sure if the beige color of the handles and trim are meant to give it a leather or wood trim appearance.

These vintage picnic baskets were great for small picnics. The metal protected the items inside from damage from many sources such as weather, getting squashed and insects. The basket could be placed on a picnic table or cloth on the ground with the same expectation of the food staying safe until use.

This basket is not very large. It could hold quite a bit of food however. It was customary to pack the serving dishes and utensils inside the basket also. Usually there would be plastic picnic plates which may have dividers for the food. Plastic cups or glasses would be packed inside for serving the drinks. Plastic or a combination of plastic and metal eating utensils would also be packed into the basket. Still there would be room in this basket for picnic food to feed a small family. A small tablecloth may have been folded and placed on top of the items in the basket before the lid was placed on it and pushed down to keep the contents safe.

The basket's handles are easy to push down to the sides of the basket for removing the lid. The handles are metal also and make carrying the basket easy.

There were matching thermos bottles to go with these metal picnic baskets. I don't have a picture of a thermos bottle but they would have been decorated with the same plaid design and most had a beige or tan plastic cup which screwed on top to cover the stopper.

This basket was gently used and does have some dents and scratches. The basket is in pretty good shape for the many picnics it must have carried food to picnics. The ease of use of these baskets made them very popular. They were a great size, easy to clean, the food did stay clean, dry and protected inside and the basket was easy to carry.