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Government surplus equipment


dustin
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One thing we collectors must always take into consideration is Surplus. Even before the end of hostilities of WWII thousands of tons of property was processed as Government Surplus being sold to the general public. Many like the "Been There" "Done That" look but the reality is mostly likely "It wasn't there!". Everything from web gear to airplanes were processed though the War Assets Administration and The Office of Surplus Property of the Treasury Department Division. From here we see the boom of entrepreneurs buying trucks loads and opening the famed Army/Navy Surplus stores across the nation.

This image is a small representative to the fact. Military equipment was dirt cheap compared to newly produced commercial items, pennies on the dollar essentially. These two individuals wear surplus items prior to embarking on an 81-mile trek down the upper Colorado River, June 1946. Each wear a USAAF B-3 life preserver and US Navy kapok life jackets. The gentleman additionally wears US Army jungle boots.

 

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That's a good thing to keep in mind when collecting and buying WWII field gear , well said Dustin. Those are interesting photos.

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manayunkman

Back in the late 1960s I went to a camp in Conn.

 

All our equipment was WW1 & 2 issue surplus.

 

The Boy Scouts used tons of WW2 equipment.

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Back in the late 1960s I went to a camp in Conn.

 

All our equipment was WW1 & 2 issue surplus.

 

The Boy Scouts used tons of WW2 equipment.

 

​That reinforces my point here. The image shows a majority of surplus items as early as 1946 being that readily accessible and remained that way for forty more years until it finally dried up. Chances are at least one item from your Camp is in someone's collection and they are wondering if it could only talk scenario. It would say; I'm soooooo bored, when are the kids coming back to camp. Can't wait till summer!

​This is why I'm in the camp: Best example as possible i.e. minty, NOS unless firm provenance is there.

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Dustin,

 

I hope you don't mind me posting these old pages from a war surplus catalog as an illustration. For those of us that can remember those times you are exactly right, war surplus was everywhere, cost next to nothing and was used in all sorts of civilian ways.

 

I have always thought that with the very rare exception of items with solid provenance most of the stuff in our collections is just surplus that never left the states.

 

At the end of the war the US chopped up used aircraft and sold it as scrap rather than spend money to ship it back to the states, or passed it off to other nations. If B-17s and P-51s weren't worth shipping back, I am pretty sure the military didn't bother sending back helmets, pistol belts, canteen covers and other expendable gear.

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I've seen numerous examples of pistol belts and M1 ammo belts being used as tool belts. It can be hard to tell the difference when you put one next to an actual combat used example.

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Cap Camouflage Pattern I

Was out in the woods with friends today. My friend was using a 1965 dated M1943 shovel. It sure was heavily used, without context I would say that it was used to dig a lot of foxholes. And his father is a vet so if it was sold at an estate sale or something one might think it was his from his service. But it was picked up at surplus store a long time ago.

 

Edit: this reminds me playing war in a friends backyard in elementary school. He had a WWII M1 helmet liner and an M1917 helmet, they sat out in a shed in his backyard. And this was only 8 or so years ago.

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manayunkman

That's funny about the Skis and Poles.

 

Every other person in Central PA has or had a pair of Army WW2 Skis and Poles.

 

I used to find them everywhere.

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Garandomatic

Probably why mountain rucks are worth next to free!

 

I managed to pull WWII as late as maybe 2010 from our local store before it closed, but it was really something in the 90s... even more so in the 80s but I was too little...

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milsurp_scout_14

Musette bags 3 for a buck! Now that's a deal! I have found lots of 'scout-used' surplus--bought a whole lot of WW2 stuff that was brand new, but marked in bright red letters with the scout's initials.

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Probably why mountain rucks are worth next to free!

 

I managed to pull WWII as late as maybe 2010 from our local store before it closed, but it was really something in the 90s... even more so in the 80s but I was too little...

 

Late 70s and up til about 1991 the surplus store in Ames Iowa had mint 1942 dated Mountain Ruck sacks($29.99),mint mountain tents(39.99) etc.

 

The owner had a store as well in Colorado Springs and common to see the mountain gear rotate here to the store.

 

Just wish I could have seen what was in the 5-6 sheds they had out back of the store.

 

There were assault gasmask bags that were new for $1.98.No one knew what they were.Last ones I saw there were priced at $4.95

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In the late 60's when I was in the Boy Scouts my dad purchased a case of surplus airborne first aid kits. He handed them out to the 25 or so of us that were at that particular troop meeting. We of course immediately started opening them up. He noticed after about five minutes that these all still had the morphine syrettes. I never saw the old man move that fast before or since and we never saw the kits again.

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  • 2 weeks later...
shawnmt6601

I remember in the 80s and very early 90s the local surplus store here "Charlie Albert's Army Navy Surplus store" had big cardboard boxes full of WW2 gear. BAR belts, pistol belts , ammo belts. leggings...everything for nearly nothing. My Dad told me that in the 60s Albert's sold Le Enfield rifles for 11 bucks each

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  • 3 years later...
On 4/6/2018 at 2:59 PM, jweitkamp said:

In the late 60's when I was in the Boy Scouts my dad purchased a case of surplus airborne first aid kits. He handed them out to the 25 or so of us that were at that particular troop meeting. We of course immediately started opening them up. He noticed after about five minutes that these all still had the morphine syrettes. I never saw the old man move that fast before or since and we never saw the kits again.

Now, that's a good laugh, visualizing him...

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I  certainly remember the good old days of real surplus shops, and I also remember how they used to mark the web gear with black grease pencils which you can never get out.  lol

Steve

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When I was a kid this place was magical. Mr. O had tons of everything. He even had a B-17 cockpit and ball turret. Over the years the store changed, surplus became camping gear. After Mr. O passed things just were not the same. The family closed it down last year. This is a interview with Mr. O when he was in his late 90's.   http://wizardofbaum.blogspot.com/2011/06/military-collector-jerome-oxman.html

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retread12345

Late 50's, early 60's  the place to go  was. REDER's SURPLUS.  in exciting East Meadow NY

simply piles and piles of stuff, and Lou. and Fran knew where every bit of it was. She lived to be 100

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  • 4 months later...
On 5/23/2021 at 3:48 PM, retread12345 said:

Late 50's, early 60's  the place to go  was. REDER's SURPLUS.  in exciting East Meadow NY

simply piles and piles of stuff, and Lou. and Fran knew where every bit of it was. She lived to be 100

   I went to Prospect Ave School with their twin girls. Our 3rd grade class had a picnic at their home.   In addition to goats, they had a WW2 Jeep, a half track, and a Tank in their backyard.  That was some time during the  51/52 school year.  I bought most of my camping gear at their store , when I was in the Boy Scouts.

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Garandomatic
On 9/30/2021 at 9:01 PM, e19 said:

   I went to Prospect Ave School with their twin girls. Our 3rd grade class had a picnic at their home.   In addition to goats, they had a WW2 Jeep, a half track, and a Tank in their backyard.  That was some time during the  51/52 school year.  I bought most of my camping gear at their store , when I was in the Boy Scouts.

Man I'd be so stoked in that backyard I'd be having convulsions...

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33 minutes ago, Garandomatic said:

Man I'd be so stoked in that backyard I'd be having convulsions...

 

When I was little, my dad and older brother met a fellow who had an extensive (no kidding extensive) collection of military vehicles in his backyard, ranging from a Sherman tank to a WW1 Renault FT, multiple half-tracks, German vehicles, etc. He additionally had an extensive military weapon and a respectable militaria collection in his house. 

 

Even more impressive was that he earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart on Okinawa as a Marine during WW2. I didn't even think about looking up his citation until long after he passed, but he was a darned impressive guy. I assume his family sold off everything when he passed away as his son and grandson are expats in France. 

 

I'll see if I can dig up some of the photos of his yard. As a kid, it was the most amazing place in the world. I think my teachers thought I was some sort of war-monger as all of my drawings in the first and second grades were of military vehicles! Raise 'em young, I guess... 🤣

 

Edit: found an online article about his collection: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-19-vw-3921-story.html

 

 

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Teachers and drawings, I did the same thing...I drew a battle scene on my desk, first of all not a good idea. My teacher saw the swastika I drew and had a melt down. She told me after school to wash all the desk tops. Then Write a one hundred word report on the swastika and Nazi Germany. She also said her husband was killed in the war with Germany. I'll never forget Ms. Terry as she taught me a lesson that I never forgot. From a not so smart 5th grader. 

I never wrote the report and she never asked for it. I think she knew I learned a lesson....

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