RationMuseum Posted March 28, 2021 Share #1 Posted March 28, 2021 Howdy all, I'm Sean from Philadelphia, PA. I'm an avid military ration collector, picking up ration/mess/distribution items of all kinds. I have a project I've been working on, opening up a museum dedicated to the history of military food production. It's a fledgling idea that's grown out of the need to share what I'd accumulated, and I hope it becomes something much larger than that over time. One step at a time, we're getting there. I have been referencing posts on this site for over a decade and really should have been joining the discussions here. The museum project is at the stage where: - We formed a corporation - We obtained a 501c3 letter from the IRS - We moved the collection into an underground commercial office building and set up an archive room - We have a weekly live bulletin to highlight progress and current projects I'm here to learn, and to help use our collection when possible to answer questions or provide examples. We're not a full on museum, we're a handful of volunteers working to make a museum dedicated to something that many of us are passionate about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdk0911 Posted March 28, 2021 Share #2 Posted March 28, 2021 hello Sean - welcome and enjoy - great knowledge on this forum! I live just north of you - lehigh valley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daskrieg Posted March 28, 2021 Share #3 Posted March 28, 2021 1 hour ago, mdk0911 said: hello Sean - welcome and enjoy - great knowledge on this forum! I live just north of you - lehigh valley Wow a local..im in Whitehall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdk0911 Posted March 28, 2021 Share #4 Posted March 28, 2021 me - topton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWW Posted March 28, 2021 Share #5 Posted March 28, 2021 Welcome to the Forum! The above post isn't mine, but a few of the photos are. If you happen to have any pictures of an opened WW2 U.S. Navy Emergency Ration for Life Rafts, please add them to the above post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted March 29, 2021 Share #6 Posted March 29, 2021 Welcome to USMF! That is such an interesting endeavor! Wish you all the best and hope it progresses to be a museum that's open eventually! I assume you've seen it, but there is a cool green set of books about the Quartermaster Corps in WWII and I remember they had fabulous info about rations in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationMuseum Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share #7 Posted March 31, 2021 On 3/29/2021 at 6:34 PM, stratasfan said: Welcome to USMF! That is such an interesting endeavor! Wish you all the best and hope it progresses to be a museum that's open eventually! I assume you've seen it, but there is a cool green set of books about the Quartermaster Corps in WWII and I remember they had fabulous info about rations in there! Thank you! Are you referring to this one? The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany It's on my reading list for sure, but I've yet to get a chance to dig in. We're always looking to collect more information, with a sub-goal of making it all searchable in one place some day as a starting point for ration research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted March 31, 2021 Share #8 Posted March 31, 2021 4 hours ago, RationMuseum said: Thank you! Are you referring to this one? The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany It's on my reading list for sure, but I've yet to get a chance to dig in. We're always looking to collect more information, with a sub-goal of making it all searchable in one place some day as a starting point for ration research. Oh, that's it! It is fabulous! I got them through the library once, and it was enthralling! I read a whole bunch of it. Really cool info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationMuseum Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted March 31, 2021 On 3/28/2021 at 7:22 PM, RWW said: Welcome to the Forum! The above post isn't mine, but a few of the photos are. If you happen to have any pictures of an opened WW2 U.S. Navy Emergency Ration for Life Rafts, please add them to the above post! I just added what I know to that thread - thanks for the heads up and the welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationMuseum Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share #10 Posted March 31, 2021 On 3/28/2021 at 3:36 PM, daskrieg said: Wow a local..im in Whitehall Small world! My grandparents are just over Treichlers bridge from where you're at - I was actually just driving through Whitehall about a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daskrieg Posted March 31, 2021 Share #11 Posted March 31, 2021 5 minutes ago, RationMuseum said: Small world! My grandparents are just over Treichlers bridge from where you're at - I was actually just driving through Whitehall about a month ago. My daughter lives just over Treichlers bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdk0911 Posted April 1, 2021 Share #12 Posted April 1, 2021 I lived on mickley road in Whitehall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Z Posted April 1, 2021 Share #13 Posted April 1, 2021 This sounds like a great idea! I hope it grows as you would like it to. The green books discussed earlier cover not only Germany, but also the QMC's role in the fight against Japan (its a separate volume). There's also another book in that series by Erna Risch that discussed the QMC from a holistic view point ranging from 1775 to 1939. I hope you can find out a lot about the Chicago Depot's role in developing rations, followed by its move to the Natick Labs that still do ration development. I just saw this week's new Modern Marvels on the History Channel where Adam Richman goes to the Natick Labs to learn about what's being "cooked up" there. He talked about a new process called Microwave Vacuum Drying (MVD) and what that could do for the military and the civilian consumer base. We all owe a debt to them and the Quartermaster Corps for what we find at the grocery store every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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