Strange items in your collection

[USARV72]

 

1945 dated "Cootie Sprayer" strange, weird addition to collection...........show yours

[LtRGFRANK]

Great item. Its amazing what all was made to help the war effort. Companies that stopped their production and switched to war items. Robert

[Brian Keith]

We have one of those, in the "Indiana Made" exhibit! We also have one that connects to an air compressor for quicker application. These were charged with DDT powder to kill lice and other parasites, remember, disease killed as many people and did combat.

BKW

[hawkdriver]

I had one just like that one for awhile, it had come right out of the box when I got it. Unfortunately, didn't have room in the collection for it and moved it on

[gwb123]

Great item. Its amazing what all was made to help the war effort. Companies that stopped their production and switched to war items. Robert

 

Government contracts meant large orders and often a steady business. That said, during the war time period, the Government could pretty much dictate purchase price (much like Wal-Mart does today).

 

While wartime production helped pull many companies out of the Depression, some of them had quite a shock when orders were suddenly cancelled after V-J day. In some cases workers who had been working constantly through out the war were suddenly facing unemployment. There was quite a bit of readjustment between 1945 to 1947 until industry realigned itself for the civilian market.

 

I am thinking this particular item was probably an adaptation of a previously manufactured civilian item. Still it is interesting to see it in OD with military contract markings.

[artu44]

As kid in the fifties I saw a footage about a concentration camp liberation where this tool was in action with a poor naked skeleton like inmate.

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Wow I would almost kill for one of those. I have a strange attraction to the real oddball stuff and that item is certainly appealing. Anybody know where I could find one for a decent price?

[General Apathy]

 

 

Hi usarv, o.k. so you have shown me yours I'll show you mine

 

It's marked up identically on the side wall as yours and has this decal print on the front of the drum.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

[General Apathy]

 

We also have one that connects to an air compressor for quicker application. These were charged with DDT powder to kill lice and other parasites, remember, disease killed as many people and did combat.

BKW

 

Hi Brian, here is my DDT spray gun that hooks up to a compressor possibly the same as the one you have in the museum.

 

As artu mentions seeing footage of concentration camp inmates being sprayed with DDT, I have seen footage of American troops using this model to spray DDT inside of peoples clothes both in recaptured camps and I believe on Italian civilians as they moved forwards through Italy.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

[Sabrejet]

Hi usarv, o.k. so you have shown me yours I'll show you mine

 

It's marked up identically on the side wall as yours and has this decal print on the front of the drum.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

 

 

What calibre is it Ken?!

 

Ian

[USARV72]

Hey guys......what about going to a re-enactment or living history as a decon unit? Use talcium powder, flour or some other "inert" white stuff? :w00t: Our group had equally twisted ideas about other living history presentations........which I wont mention......

[gwb123]

Hey guys......what about going to a re-enactment or living history as a decon unit? Use talcium powder, flour or some other "inert" white stuff? :w00t: Our group had equally twisted ideas about other living history presentations........which I wont mention......

 

You start throwing white powder of an uknown nature at people even at a reenactment and you may get a whole lot of attention from the cops and other people you do not want to meet.

[Brian Keith]

Hi Brian, here is my DDT spray gun that hooks up to a compressor possibly the same as the one you have in the museum.

 

As artu mentions seeing footage of concentration camp inmates being sprayed with DDT, I have seen footage of American troops using this model to spray DDT inside of peoples clothes both in recaptured camps and I believe on Italian civilians as they moved forwards through Italy.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

 

Yep! The is it!

Now I know there ar at least two in the world.

BKW

[M1Marksman]

I have a 100ft. Lufkin tape measure with U.S. Army Air Corps embossed into the leather cover. I also have a K-20 aerial camera in the case with manual, dated 1942.

[fortworthgal]

We have a WWII crash axe. Monstrous looking thing that we've affectionately nicknamed "Crazy tool" or, for short - "CT."

 

I don't have a photo, but here's the same thing on another site:

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1942...craft-crash-axe

 

Picked it up at a yard sale for $5.

[rambob]

AN-M54X Thermite Bomblet I got off of Ebay. There can't be many of these around!!

[fortworthgal]

I have a 100ft. Lufkin tape measure with U.S. Army Air Corps embossed into the leather cover. I also have a K-20 aerial camera in the case with manual, dated 1942.

 

My husband has a 6-inch steel rule (machinist's rule) stamped with the US Army Signal Corps crossed flags.

[37thguy]

My husband has a 6-inch steel rule (machinist's rule) stamped with the US Army Signal Corps crossed flags.

 

Now you're just braggin' him up! :naughty:

[DocRick]

I have a Japanese opium pipe my Dad brought back from Iwo and the occupation of Japan in '45 along with an Japanese rifle and bayonet.

[steved409]

The 'duster' show in the first thread was pretty much a household item during the era. You didn't just buy wasp killer or bug spray in an aresol can back then.

 

SteveD

[fortworthgal]

Now you're just braggin' him up! :naughty:

 

Naw, if I was braggin' him up, you'd know it!

 

The 'duster' show in the first thread was pretty much a household item during the era. You didn't just buy wasp killer or bug spray in an aresol can back then.

 

We saw one last weekend, I believe $15. Same markings as the one in the original post here, except it was plain galvanized metal, not painted OD.

[Old Marine]

 

I don't know if this odd or just trivial, OD Green thumbtacks dated 1943. They really did think of everything, and they really did paint EVERYTHING green.

 

Dennis

[RockinBones]

I would like to add this photo I have showing an American Soldier armed with a "delousing gun" in the act of spraying a not very convinced Sicilan farmer.

The sign in the back reads "Protect yoursef from typhus, get dusted at disinfecting station".

DDT was very popular in Italy to late 60's as the "final solution" for mosquitoes and lil'critters in general. Tons have been sprayed by planes or simply poured in rivers and ponds untill it was realized how harmful this chemical was for humans as well

 

[kfields]

Ha! The DDT sprayer is very neat! I have a strange thing to.

 

I happen to have an original copy of the handout they gave to soldiers and civilians right before they were sprayed. It is hand stamped May 12, 1945. It makes sense the Americans would want to explain as quickly as possible what was happening before they sprayed all these people so handing out these pamphlets ahead of time probably helped to decrease any anxiety.

Of all places, I found this in Bertchesgarden while in the service in 1977 on a skiing trip. I was walking through town and noticed a pile of "stuff" thrown out on the curb. A quick look and I saw many war time dated letters. I scooped them all up and still have them. Included in one letter was this original pamphlet.

Kim

[gunbarrel]

While not field gear, this is one of the oddest items in my collection. I have this plaque that was once in a helicopter. The pilot was so happy that they missed him, that he had the plaque made and mounted on the bird while he was assigned to it.