Stretch Pizza
Box Gallery
a slice of the World's Largest Pizza Box Collection
Scott Wiener started collecting pizza boxes in 2007 when he saved a "limited edition" box he spotted in a New Jersey pizzeria. Since then, he's been archiving interesting boxes from around the world. Boxes in the collection are clean, unused samples. Some are from Scott's own adventures but many are gifts from pizza tour guests.
The collection constitutes a Guinness World Record, set in 2013 with 595 boxes, but it has nearly tripled since then!
1,770 pizza boxes
125+ countries
7 continents
STRETCH PIZZA
331 Park Ave S
New York, NY 10010
stretchpizzanyc.com
(212) 301-7750
@stretchpizzanyc
Gallery Key
We selected these boxes to present a broad collection of generic stock boxes from around the world. Since these boxes are generic, they’re not specific to any one pizzeria. Each presents the design aesthetic of its country of origin.
The gallery display was designed by Steph Mantis. Big thanks to Chef Wylie Dufresne for welcoming the collection into his restaurant. Use this key to get more information about the boxes in the Stretch Pizza gallery.
- HAPPY PIZZAIOLO (Italy)
- HOT & DELICIOUS PIZZA (UK)
- CHEF (USA) design by comic artist Gill Fox
- PIZZA STORY (Sweden)
Translates to “Pizza is part of Italian cuisine and has a special place in Neapolitan cuisine. The word pizza appears for the first time in 997 in medieval Latin, and it was in Naples in 16th century Italy that it first referred to a galette bread slice. However, the combination, without filling, was around thousands of years ago.” - FLAGS (Italy)
This is an extremely common pizza box in Europe. - CHE PIZZA (Italy)
While the phrase “che pizza” literally translates to “what a pizza!,” it has an alternative meaning of “what an idiot!” - MOTORINO (France)
- SIMPSONS? (made in Italy, sourced in the Netherlands)
These characters resemble Bart and Homer Simpson, but with subtle tweaks designs to avoid trademark infringement. This particular image shows references to Neapolitan culture and it includes the box-within-a-box design element known as the “Droste Effect.” - PIZZA OFENFRISCH (Austria)
Say that word out loud and you’ll know what it means in English. - BLACK AND WHITE (Iraq)
- BIG ARMS (Australia)
- FAST FOOD (India)
Translates to “Italian Pizza.” - DELICIOUS MOMENTS (USA)
This generic box is found only on the west coast. Notice that the clip art of the two human characters doesn’t match. Items in the scene show labels of Restaurant Depot products. - PIZZA DELIVERY (Italy)
Prolific pizza box artist Luca Ciancio often creates an entire story from a single frame. - HOY QUIERO (Costa Rica)
This generic box design is based on the cover of the book Viva La Pizza! The Art of the Pizza Box by Scott Wiener, the owner of this pizza box collection. - TOMATO ERUPTION (Italy)
This fantastical Italian scene shows two famous Neapolitan actors from the 1950s (Antonio de Curtis aka Totò and Peppeino De Filippo) with Mount Vesuvius spewing tomato sauce in the background. - HEBREW (Israel)
Top translates to “Best Pizza In The City” and side translates to “Top Quality Pizza.” - GEORGE CLOONEY (Italy)
Come on. You know it looks like him. - PIZZA POINT (Turkey)
- HAPPY PIZZAIOLO (Italy)
Viva La Pizza! The Art of the Pizza Box
The New York Times called Scott’s book about pizza box art and history “delightful and informative” and WIRED Magazine says it’s “an intensely researched love song to [pizza boxes].” It was published in November 2013 by Melville House and remains the world’s only book about pizza boxes.