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History of Science Museum

Two Cardboard Boxes for 'Lab Snacks', Issued by Thorlabs, New Jersey, USA, Early 21st Century

Inventory Number 13431


Acknowledgement: © History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, inv.13431

Item type
Object
Makers
Thorlabs
Provenance
Transferred from the Ultrafast Physics Group, Oxford University, in 2012. Originally lent for display in the 'Time Machines' exhibition.
Primary inscriptions
Wording on printed cardboard box: 'LAB SNACKS A Treat for Humans THORLABS [motto in picture:] Born to Serve'.
Physical material
Cardboard
Dimensions
Weight: 91g
Inventory No
13431
Accession Number
2012-9/2

Description

Printed cardboard rectangular box for 'Lab Snacks' and small cardboard pillow box for ‘Lab Snacks Lite’, both with cartoon of a dog serving 'Lab Snacks' on a tray with the motto 'Born to Serve'. These are promotional items given to employees and clients of Thorlabs and would have contained an assortment of pre-packaged snack foods.

Thorlabs Inc. is a scientific instrument manufacturer specialising in optical and fibre-optic laboratory tools, founded at Newton, New Jersey, USA in 1989. Their web site (as viewed in 2013) contains illustrations of the same and similar Lab Snacks boxes and a reference to 'famished grad students who depend on the Lab snacks for an occasional meal'.