Spidey, Hello Kitty popular lunchboxes

So long, SpongeBob. Hello, Spidey.

The ever-cheerful yellow denizen of the deep has given way to the angst-wracked superhero in kids’ highest fashion statement — lunchboxes.

“Anything Spider-Man is very, very popular,” says Mike McIntosh, a manager of a Florida Target store.

“SpongeBob is not as popular this year,” he added. “We saw greater SpongeBob sales last year.”

After several years, “Hello, Kitty” lunchboxes are still favorites with the girls.

For more than 100 years, lunchboxes have signaled who’s really top dog with kids.

Metal lunch kits first appeared in the early 1900s, according to Country Living magazine. The first character lunch box was probably the 1925 tin carryall with — surprise — Mickey Mouse printed on its lid.

TV and movie idols were first featured in 1949, when a pasted-on likeness of Hopalong Cassidy appeared on a metal lunchbox. American Thermos Co. introduced the first fully lithographed lunchbox in 1953.

Since then, lunchboxes have served as chronicles of current icons, from animated characters to comic-book superheroes.

Unfortunately, lunchboxes, like childhood, are ephemeral, and are one of the first things to go as kids grow.

“Once kids hit 10, they steer away from lunchboxes,” McIntosh says. “They prefer to pack their lunches in their JanSport backpacks.”