AUSTIN, Texas — When you step inside one Austin home, you step back in time.

Homeowner Steve Harris calls it his Pop Culture House. The living room is filled with mid-century furniture.

“All this stuff is from the mid-1950s. We have bars and TV sets, and great stereos,” said Harris.

His collection also boasts more than 200 old metal lunch boxes. One of them is from the 1950s and has western character Hopalong Cassidy on the front.

“Every lunch box, since this box, owes its history to this box, because this is the very first one,” said Harris.

As times changed, color TV became the rage, and so did metal lunch boxes. Harris’s collection fills his entire home and each one brings back childhood memories.

“I bring people in here and they go like, ‘Do you have this?’ or ‘Oh, that was the box I had!’” he said. 

One rare lunch box is from the classic TV show "H.R. Pufnstuf."

“This is quite a desirable box. These are hard to come by,” said Harris.

And there’s a reason his 1968 Beatles "Yellow Submarine" lunch box is under lock and key.

“One day I took it to work and the guy in the lunchroom goes, ‘You know that lunch box is worth like $200.' From that point on, I went to the brown bag, and put this on a shelf!” he said. 

Harris’ collection isn’t complete yet. There are about 200 old boxes out there waiting for a new home. Harris says there’s always room for one more at his Pop Culture House.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly mentioned in a caption the number of decades Harris has had his collection. The error has been corrected. (Feb. 6, 2022)