Brexton Picnic Boxes

I don't know about you, but the week between Christmas and New Year really gets on my nerves. I have found my local charity shops very rarely have any new items in around this time of year, and of course the weather has put paid to any car boots. So image how pleasantly surprised I was to spot a little picnic box in my local charity shop on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately I was weighed down with the Christmas Turkey, ham, vegetables and last minute gifts, so was unable to investigate further. But as soon as the shops opened again, I was down there, dying to explore. Fifteen pounds exchanged hands and it was on the way home.

A Brief History of Brexton Picnic Sets

Brexton made their picnic boxes in the 1950s. The covers are made of a form of artificial leather cloth, that feels and looks like fabric. They came in various colours red, blue, green and yellow. Most picnic sets catered for between two and four people. The cups and saucers were made by Grays Pottery of Stoke on Trent. The sandwich box is a hard plastic embossed with the name 'Brexton the same material is used to make the containers for milk and sugar. The flask is a Thermos.

What makes Brexton Picnic Sets Special.

The shape of the Brexton Picnic box really does conjure up the cosy tranquil days of the 1950s. Coming after the uncertainty of the war years, time for the family, and family values would be very important. You can imagine young couples cycling off into the country with their picnic sets balanced on the basket of their bicycles, or young families in their cars heading for the countryside, tartan blanket in tow.

Food for 1950s Picnic

The food would be simple fare, ham or cheese sandwiches and pork pie kept fresh, in the modern for the time, plastic sandwich box. Hot tea from the thermos, a dash of milk, served in china cups, sweetened with sugar, as everyone did in those days.

Brexton picnic boxes, although very old fashioned to our eyes, used new and exciting materials for the time. The 1950s was the times for new and fledgling forward thinking designs and ideas to take form before the explosion of the 1960s.

After the bleakness of second world war the festival of Britain, that was held in 1951 gave a spring board for new ideas, not only in science and technology, but in arts and design.