For boys, it was between G.I. Joe and Star Wars. For girls, My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake. A generation later, the back-to-school ritual of selecting a new lunch box involves much more than ...

Character lunch boxes now make up only one-third of the market, when once they had dominated it. And so came the rise of the universally-appealing soft-sided lunch tote. These souped-up brown bags ...