OLD THREAD I have a related item to add. re US Army / Infantry mess kits. The source is the same PDF I ref. above " U.S. Army Field Mess Gear " I'm posting to add a US mess kit of 1898 Spanish-American War (round vs oval) and so-called "substitute standard". I had not included it above. It is an outlier, I had not yet come across one. It is, in my experience fwiw, among the most rare of the US mess kits (in ebay US searches anyway). " During the Spanish-American War the Ordnance Department purchased substitute standard items for issue. One such item was a round version of the meat can (in at least two slight variations). … These items were also used in recruit mess halls at the beginning of World War I." "...in at least two slight variations" The "...slight variations.. " gave me pause. Having considered it, my thought is the 2 do share the same origin. If so, for me, the difference is not slight: above appears to be aluminum vs below is tin plated steel and the two have different profiles (rounded bottoms vs angled). Owner offered on below example that there is a faint "US" on the familiar handle.
