WWII US Aladdin 1943 Stove (with wheel, not valve and lever)

Hello:

I have a WWII vintage Aladdin Stove, US Army issue that is similar to the M1942 MOD 44/45. Although similar, it is also signifigantly different in that it has no valve to speak of, or cleaning lever. There is a wheel mounted parallel to and below the "spirit cup" that is part of the burner assemlbly, and revolves with it. The burner assy moves up and down as it is turned, and stops solidly at both limits of its travel. The only stamped text on the stove is:

U. S.
Aladdin
1943

There is an instruction plate (metal) on the side of the tank with the operating instructions embossed in black on a white background.

I would appreciate any information regarding this stove, particularly parts drawings, disassembly instructions, or direction on where to find it. It seems to have kindled something in me. I have always been interested in stoves, but only for camping/ canoeing etc, and have a pair of Coleman Easi-lite single burners, a Svea 123R, a Colemen M500 soon to arrive, and a couple of Coleman two burner jobs as well as a lamp or two.

Regards:
Ianj

 

I know nothing that can be of help with your enquiry, but am sure that someone will be along soon that can help.
In the meantime, ... A Picture Paints etc. etc.
So if you could post a photo of the stove in question, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Good luck with your question.

Spudz

 

Hello again:

This is the stove that I posted about. As you can see, it looks very similar to the US M1943 MOD# "foxhole" stove. The major difference is in the burner assembly, it rotates via the horizontal wheel which has about six full turns between stops. What text on the plate I am able to decipher says that it is self-cleaning at one stop, and the burner is adjusted by turning the wheel.



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I have been able to find only one reference to this type (refered to as "ski-stove" or mountain stove") in the Aladdin Knights Message Archive #1585, reply/ Dec 04, 2000. So far I have been unable to contact the gentleman who seemed to be familiar with the stove, that replied to the original post.

This little stove (which is in the "as found" condition) has been a puzzle to me since I first laid eyes on it. I don't want to take it apart for cleaning until I learn more about it. It has kindled an interest in stoves in general that has also been fueled by stumbling into this community in my search for info. I think I may have the "sickness"!

I would be greateful for any help, and am grateful for access to such a wonderful resource.

Regards:
Ianj
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Now that is neat!

I've one of the traditional ones and it is quite nice, but I like the simplicity of yours. Less seals is always good!

Seem quite rare from what you say about it.

Best of luck with it. Let us know if you fire it up!

CB

 

Hello Lanj: I have several M1942 stoves. They are some of my favorites. I have got to admit though that I have never seen one like yours. Does the wheel turn the stove on and off, as well as move the burner up and down? Are the three pot support arms made of stainless steel? See if a magnet will stick to them. They appear to have picked up some rust. Maybe it is just a rust stain. This looks to be a very rare puppy indeed!! Congratulations on your fine!!! Gordon

 

Hello... again:

I checked the stove with a magnet, and the pot support, burner support, fount (I keep wanting to say "tank") and legs are all magnetic. I'm guessing the finish on the fount, burner support, and legs is some sort of plating. The pot supports look like they had a black coating originally, possibly blueing.

According to what I can read form what's left on the label, the operating instructions are as follows:
(Top line is unreadable, although I think I can make out "full" about half way accross)
To Start: Turn wheel counterclockwise..... (unreadable).....
this cleans the tip, then clockwise..... (unreadable)...
35 strokes, turn valve slowly.... (unreadable)...
burns blue, open one full turn..... (unreadable)....
(the next line talks about ventilation, but is mostly illegible)
(the bottom line says "to pack"... but the rest is as above)

Surmising from that, the wheel (integral to the burner assy) does everything, shut off, regulate, and clean the burner. I took the pump apart and found a spare packing set, fuel cap gasket, and generator/nozzle assembly with integral cleaning wire sticking out of the orfice in the nozzle. Everything inside the pump looks good, and I'll be soaking the leather in some oil. The pump leather is pliable, but dry. The pot support arms in the down position protrued into the burner cup through three square holes. These holes line up when the burner/ valve assembly is in the closed position.

The more I get into it, the more interesting it gets!

Regards:
Ianj

 

Hello,
If you turn that stove upside down and soak the pot supports in vineagar you will loosen up some of that rust. Soak for about 2 hours then rinse with freash water and dry.
I have been following this post and I find that stove to be really unique. I wonder how many are still out there waiting to be found?

Chuck

 

Sorry to revive this long dead topic. This topic is the only mention of a ski stove I could find on the forum.

It appears Coleman Ski Stoves and a few other Coleman stoves have fallen through the cracks of history though the G I stove didn't.

The G I stove probably survived in history because it was massed produced but the Ski Stove along with some other speciality stoves, manufactured for specific areas of the armed forces, didn't.

The stoves are sure to be MilSpec and I assume manufacturers other than Coleman would have also produced these stoves. In the case of the Ski Stove, it looks as though Aladdin did according to the evidence of the OP.

 

If anyone wants to find a very good example of this stove with quite good information just do the usual searches on that well known auction site.

It would be interesting to see the other types of specialist stoves.

 

@Matty

Hi Matty, is this the stove you are referring to?

 

The first version of the M1942 had a horizontal control wheel. That is the stove in the link provided by @shagratork and certainly the one inquired about by the OP in this thread. Not a new, long lost model, just the early M1942 variant. The control wheel quickly disappeared because of the same reason you don't leave the key on a burning SVEA 123.

 

@shagratork

Trevor,

I only know the stove from descriptions in articles from the war years. The stove is called the 'Ski Stove' in the articles I have read and they describe why the stove is named as such.

I looked on the forum expecting to see what the stove looked like and also expected it would be well represented on the forum. Just because I'd never heard of the Ski Stove didn't mean anything to me, I expected it would be well known to stovies. After searching the site for the Ski Stove, the only reference to its name I could find was this topic. Therefore, I assumed the stove wasn't well known after all. I then did a google search and found the stove on the well known auction site.

To answer you question of, "is the stove you are referring to?" I suppose it is when comparing it to the one on the well known auction site. Like Ross, Ian and David in the topic you linked me to, I couldn't say for certain it is.

It looks as though the stove isn't as rare as I originally thought after I first did the search of CCS, it is just that its designed intention isn't very well known.

 

Is there documented evidence of what you say in regards to the reason why the control wheel was replaced?

The reason I ask is, I wonder if it is possible that the control wheel wasn't replaced as such, just that differing models, depending on their intended use, had a control wheel or key or other variations.

 

Matty, all,
+1 with chb. For one the control "wheel" was replaced, sorry no link or document. WW2 collector's research spans far beyond CCS. The only example known with this wheel to-date is, as mentioned Aladdin's 1st version M1942,
the rare 1943 Aladdin M1942:
here is one found in 2018 credit @MrAlexxx and
here is one posted in 2008 credit @Ian .

In this OP:
ehanjay had done his research , he knew the model,
but was puzzled with the "wheel" on his '43 Aladdin M1942 MOD.
in 2006.
In 2006 there was far less on-topic content posted but ehanjay did include A. "mountain" (you omitted?) and B. M1942 MOD.

In 2018 CCS search results of A & B (vs "ski-stove") results in voluminous content re popular M1942 (and quickly find "mountain division" tag).

My +1 with chb on topic is not new. I tip my hat to him here as well. BTW there-in is an open invitation for anyone to advance the patent research / CCS content re the M1942 MOD.
thx omc
views 3425

 

@OMC

Thank you for confirming the stove is not new to collectors. I thought I'd made it clear in my 2nd post that I also now find that the stove isn't rare but the reasons behind the stove and others designed for specific branches of the armed forces may have been lost to history.

I assume you are confirming that the valve wheel was indeed changed for some kind of safety issue. because of the specifics of the article I read, I thought it may have been possible that these stoves may have looked very similar but were manufactured for various conditions faced by armed forces for the various branches of the armed forces.

For instance, and believe me, this is only pure wild speculation from a non stovie, I wondered if the fixed wheel was of best use in snow or blizzard conditions. I imagine it wouldn't have been easy to insert a key with snow gloves on or frozen hands. If the key was dropped in the snow, it may have been a case of good luck finding it.

Of course, what I just wrote is more than likely just rubbish. As you said, all the research has been done so there is no need to speculate nor introduce any other probably false information to contaminate the already completed research.

 

hello
You're welcome and thank you for posting.
FWIW myself, I consider the '43 Aladdin M1942 (aka M1942 with "wheel") to be quite rare (on my "i'll never find one of those" list next to the Ernie Pyle).
Re "I assume you are confirming that the valve wheel was indeed changed for some kind of safety issue"
Myself, no.
Aladdin was only maker that used it, myself, I do not know or have speculation as to why they used it or why soon after they stopped using it and conformed to use all the same parts as all other M1942s.
thx omc
PS all, again here there-in is an open invitation for anyone to advance the patent research / CCS content re the M1942 MOD.

 

Just when I thought I wouldn't need to post to this topic again - here I am.

I'm interested in that you said Aladdin were the only ones to use the fixed wheel. The following question probably reveals my total and utter lack of knowledge in regards to both MilSpec and stoves.

I've never owned nor even really looked at a MilSpec lantern or stove. I know zero about them. However, I thought the whole point of them being MilSpec was that they were all manufactured in exactly the same way. So that's not true? manufacturers could add their own designs or change the stove/lantern if they wished?

 

all,
It is a stove forum OP where discussion and any all on-topic input is welcome.
I stand by my comments but

please view the above question as open question, thanks.

(It is probably best not directed to me . I do not have the answers and I'm not among the most knowledgeable members on-topic).
best regards omc

 

@Matty has posted a reasonable question. The variant with the knob (rather than the horizontal wheel) is listed as the "M1942 (MOD)". ("MOD" means "modified" -- the USA has never had a Ministry of Defense.) So this strongly suggests (to me) that the difference is a new variant, rather than a difference in manufacturer.

I haven't seen a documented reason for the change. I think many of us have assumed it was to prevent burned fingers, because the stove gets very hot in use.

BTW, the (MOD) version has a fixed bakelite knob, so there is no issue of trying to insert a key with numb fingers -- which can be an annoyance with some stoves in winter conditions.

....Arch

 

@ArchMc Exactly. The M1942 was designed with the horizontal control wheel and manufactured that way by Aladdin. Users very quickly found the wheel would burn the Sh!t3 out of your fingers once it had been running for a while. So, the design was changed and the M1942(mod) appeared with the control lever. The wheel is also more difficult to access and operate if you are using a pan like the one in the cookset below that overhangs the stove rather than the 520 style cylindrical canister.

The stove was invented by Bestor Robbinson who was among other things, director of the Sierra Club 1935-66, laywer, mountaineer and inventor. During WWII he served in the Quartermaster General's office and worked on developing equipment for the newly organized mountain troops. This is where the M1942 probably got tagged with the completely informal "mountain stove" name. Most likely also where someone erroneously picked up the Ski stove title, although I have never seen that term in print.

However, the M1942 was not designed exclusively for the mountain troops, it was a general issue item. There is a cookset which is officially designated as "M1942 mountain cookset".
The M1942 stove will fit in the inner pan of the M1942 cookset. Like the cylindrical canisters, stove and container are separate inventory items even though they often seen in use as a matched pair.
As an aside, the 10th Mountain Division, which was organized in 1943 didn't reach a combat theatre (Italy) until Jan 1945, so the stove pre-dates the mountain troops by quite a bit.