In 1957, Leo May, a miner working underground at INCO Ltd, the world's major nickel producer, sat his black tin lunchbox on it's end to use as a seat while waiting for the "cage", the underground elevator system bringing men and supplies in and out of the mine depths.

The next thing he knew, he was flat on the ground, his lunchbox squashed. This was not acceptable! So, his inventive mind set about creating a Lunchbox that would hold the weight of a man and his lunch when there was no seat available (miners often ate their lunch "on the job", in field conditions without chairs or benches). Plus it had to be affordable for the miners, who earned $1.25/per hour at the time.
Courtesy, Inco Triangle

These engineering marvels were hand-produced for a few years, until demand forced him to invent unique automated equipment for mass production and in 1978, the company was incorporated under the name L. May Metal Fabricators Ltd. Leo's Lunchboxes became the standard for the mining and construction industry and virtually 100% of  INCO's 20,000 workers carried the Lunchbox from Sudbury. Many workers starting their mining careers at this time carried their same lunchboxes until retirement, a span of 30 years - some say they work like good luck charms......

Now, Leo's Lunchboxes are sold around the globe, as The Original Miner's Riveted Aluminum Lunchboxes and are now used in many innovative situations from industrial uses, featuring promotional items for advertising agencies, as fashion items, household uses, seen in movies and TV commercials - uses limited only by your imagination...........

Working from a small workbench out of his basement workshop, he came up with a design that not only supported him but was built to last. When he showed up at work with his shiny new Lunchbox, he was immediately inundated with orders for 40 more! Soon, Leo's hobby evolved into a small company called L.May Mfg and to identify his lunchboxes, he modestly chose a small stamp in the most popular font of the day, and placed it in the upper left hand side, "just like the address on the letter", where that very same stamp shows today.