Was looking for some of that mess kit military stamped US cutlery on that auction site that we all have a love/hate relationship with. That stuff is just awesome for camping and wanted to pick up a few pieces to finish up a set of four. Early in the morning and half way through the first cup of coffee so was still half asleep. Browsing the military gear section and came across a very reasonable BIN auction that had just been posted for a short time with a heading that said something like..."Military Field Relics"...interesting...so read the write up and it said...food tin..mess kits...ammo belt...blah blah blah...and 1942 Coleman stove...Oh okay...that made me sit up...so started weeding my way through about a dozen pictures...large food container embossed USMC or something like that...kinda cool...mess kits WW1? Oh cool...ammo belt and canteen? Not so cool...don't really need that...Where the heck is the stove he's talking about??...At this point I almost gave up ever seeing the stove....this guy was wearing me out...last few pictures...shows the bottom of the tin...stamped 1942...oh that's neat...I wonder what the stove is? Next picture of stove from the top down into the tin....huh...looks like a M1942 style??...but what's that? Is that the BIG wheel valve I'm seeing...*blink blink*...*rubs eyes*...sure looks like it...next picture stove sitting on the food container...Definitely a wheel stove dated 1943 ALADDIN. click....BIN!!! Picked it up today and the tin with the stuff smells like it hasn't been opened since the end of WW2. The stove the same. I wonder how long it sat there? Stove looks pretty darn good. Maybe the closest thing I'll ever get to an actual honest to goodness time capsule. After first seeing a picture of one a couple years ago it was on my Holy Grail list. Never thought I'd ever see one never mind own one. Moral of the story...always look through every box...around every corner and through every picture. You never know what you'll find. Oh and forgot to add...free shipping!! Dang...I've been lucky!
"Dang...I've been lucky!" you say. You sure have, congrats!! I had just commented about that '43 rarity last week and there she is, cool. I think I see US C.M. MFG CO. 1942 so just the bottom (the bigger one) is stamped. 1942 2 piece, cool. You also said mess kits WW1? yes WW1 the handle should be stamped with a maker and year. My favorite plates, shhh don't let the secret out. WW1 kits used to be common and cheap, not so much as of late. that is awesome omc
Cool find. Your US GI mess kits [''Meat Cans''] are the WWI style, not WWII. The WWII kind had a deeper divided plate opposite the fry pan.
@Harder D. Soerensen LOL. Thank you Sir. Hopefully when I get around to it the flame shots will do it justice. @OMC Yup...read your comments on that post so thank you for that. Interesting history behind it. I've written the seller asking for any information he might possibly have on the stuff. He did mention having some WW2 uniforms so would be kind of interesting to tie it together somehow. Probably a long shot and not likely to amount to much as the original auction pictures looked like some kind of junk strewn warehouse so maybe he was just cleaning it out. I'll post any information he might come back with. I've been looking for a while so it's weird how things happen. Seems to be when you least expect it... Everyone else thanks for the comments and CCS thanks for a great place to post and read about what other people find and do with their classic stoves! You guys are what keeps this hobby going!
I was just researching (other) US stove makers and came across this blurb re: '43 Alladin M1942 on Marsh site, which in-part was news to me: "The Mantle Lamp Co. of America made this Aladdin M-1942 stove for the military; it is date stamped 1943. This early version of the model was protected by U.S. patent 2,465,572. The toothed wheel both regulated the flame and incorporated a tip cleaner. The operating instructions are on a metal tag soldered to the side of the tank." thx omc tag @MrAlexxx
@OMC Interesting stuff. Definitely has the metal tag soldered to the side but was probably a decal on the tag which is long gone. I always thought that maybe it was an embossed tag soldered to the tank but nope. I never did actually see a picture of a wheeled valve stove tag so...Not really sure how the wheeled valve actually works but the wheel does spin and the whole burner head rotates upwards and downwards with it. I hope that is how it is supposed to work? If not then I have issues. lol If you rotate it going upwards to wide open it reaches a point where I guess it comes off of the threads but is held on by a machined shoulder or something and the wheel spins freely. I gather at that point it is as wide open as you'll ever get it and probably you'd never need to reach that point. Closing the valve coming downwards it reengages the threads and eventually bottoms out and at that point the valve wheel snugs up valve closed, I hope. That's as far as I got. Can't seem to find any information on it so I hope the guys who have one jump in. Thanks. Alex
