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Officer's Mess Outfit M1941 Question


Grant S.
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This interesting item was discovered hiding in the back of the vehicle maintenance barn of the museum. It is very similar to one pictured on p. 174 of GI Collector's Guide vol.1. The main difference is that all the tableware and utensils are made of aluminum vice enamel ware. There is no manufacturer's label, unfortunately. So I am wondering if this is later war issue, or perhaps Korea or later vintage. Does anyone have any expertise in this field?

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I'm far from an expert on these, but all of the aluminum ones I've seen have been post WWII. The enamelware (white with a blue rim) were all WWII dated.

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TheGrayGhost

I will second that, not sure when the changeover happened, but almost positive it is post war. However, based on the color of the case, I would bet that this is an early example of the aluminum ware.

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Johan Willaert

Both versions are listed in the WW2 QM Catalog...

Can post a scan later this weekend

 

 

WW2 sets did have a dataplate on the top of the lid though

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Quartermaster

Have you unwrapped any of the dishes and looked on the back/bottom? You should be able to see the item's maker and a date.

 

Doesn't date the container or when it was assembled but should be close.

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Definitely later, as a major difference is in the style of clasps which appear to have a padlock option to lock one side only instead of keys.

Below is my 1944 dated M1941 box which when acquired had all ali ware. Note its last issue date. All contents were transferred into a 1942 dated box which has a brass oval disk on the lid. My 1944 case has a ali oval plate, didn't have any keys but I was able to modify some 1960s keys to operate the locks.

The earlier M1937 set had ali ware and stainless utensils, whereas the M1941 had enamelware. Not visible in the above photos are the handles which I suspect are metal shaped rod, as used on post-war ammo boxes. The M1937 and M1941 had leather handles at each side.

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Thanks to everyone for the information! The serving tray easily slips out of its paper and I don't remember seeing any date or manufacturer information on it, but I will look again. The handles are definitely metal. It looks to me like the box has been repainted, so perhaps someone painted over the original stencil that showed it was post-war - perhaps on purpose, but who knows?

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  • 2 years later...

I know this an old tread, but to clear up some. I found on e of these, this week end and the date on bottom of the plates and cup aluminum, state 1940. The date of the contract on the out side of the box is Oct 28 1940. Also on the coffee pots. It is missing the 1 each large plate. The handles to carrie the box are leather.

Mitch

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Johan Willaert

Here are some pictures of my set...

 

Plate on box has a 1944 date, handles are leather... All is enamelware dated 1944, except for one alu dish which is dated 1940...

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