Several observations: (1) “IC” = “Inspected” while in service and “Condemned”, being removed from the supply chain. This process applied to a wide range of equipment and is not unique to Canteen Plastic; (2) dating or otherwise evaluating canteens by cap a fool’s errand, as caps subject to replacement as part of the same inspection process referenced above; (3) the cap here is missing its cork gasket, it was not supplied as shown here; (4) Canteen Plastic was not “recalled” or subject to “one for one” replacement; (5) ETHOCEL, a naturally occurring polymer found in wood and capable of being extracted from wood pulp, remains a Dow proprietary name, still in commercial production. Only Dow’s 10,000 canteen ordered by the QM in October 1942 for field and lab testing, can be identified as “ETHOCEL”. The thermosetting material, when used by American Insulator and others, is properly called ethyl cellulose, as supplied by The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan; (6) P.I. the maker mark of Plastic Industries, Bradley Beach, New Jersey; (7) to my knowledge, the other production suppliers of Canteen Plastic have all been accounted for, as follows: American Insulator Corp. (“AICO”), New Freedom, Pennsylvania; Amos Molded Plastics (“AMOS” in logo), Edinburg, Indiana; The General Industries Co. (“G.I.”), Elyria, Ohio; and Mack Molding Co. (“MACK MOLDING CO.”), Arlington, Vermont; (8), while Strong Manufacturing Co., Sebring, Ohio, manufactured Canteen M-1942, CRS, Canteen Aluminum, I know of no primary source documentation indicating they produced Canteen Plastic; (9) the easiest way to distinguish the 10,000 Dow experimental canteens from the production is the Dow features a single lug molded into the canteen body, serving to cap chain secured, while all production have a double lug; (10), with the cap gasket missing, this video missed an opportunity to critically evaluate the “Cap, Canteen, Plastic, With Chain, M-1942”. Sadly I cannot recall if the example here has the mold release band, which is frequently misunderstood as an effort to strengthen the cap, but in reality was a manufacturer-requested change to eliminate “flash”, the industry name for the excess plastic produced when an item doesn’t release cleanly from the mold, requiring time-consuming hand tooling to remove. If the cap has such a band, research suggests it may feature a an upper case, Art Deco stylized “S” oriented on the horizontal in a lozenge, (“”), the marker mark of Standard Cap & Molding Co., Baltimore, Maryland. I could go on, but promised myself when I started to limit my comment to ten observations raised by this laudatory, yet at times ahistorical, treatment of Canteen Plastic. I would conclude by observing the enduring legacy of these World War II research and development efforts resides in this reality: nearly two decades would past, since the original Canteen Plastic conceived in 1942, during the exigencies posed by World War II, before the Army would adopt its first Standard plastic canteen, designated “U. S. Canteen Plastic 1-quart” adopted 1962 (specification dated December 1962), with the first production contracts opened in 1963. This canteen, made of polyethylene, a tough, light, flexible synthetic resin, designated Standard in 1962, is the basis for the plastic canteen still in use today. Demonstrating how seminal and enduring the collaborative and accelerated Government-private industry research was during World War II, the polyethylene used in 1962 is the same synthetic resin recommended for further research in a O.Q.M.G. paper dated December 8, 1942, which concludes in pertinent part “(p)olyethylene might be welded together to provide a tasteless, odorless and translucent canteen with good strength characteristics over a wide range of temperatures”. This recommendation came exactly one year and one day after the Japanese attack on U.S. Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and would be the same resin used when designating the first Standard U.S. Army Plastic Canteen exactly 20 years latter in 1962. All the video haranguing about “what the QM knew and when did he know it”, Dow’s advertising deceiving the public, and soldiers being forced to drink water which imparted a taste and odor few found objectionable in the field, only serves to needlessly obfuscate the historical record.

@warhistorygeek6013

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Hdjd! Thanks for the critiques on the video! I hoped to make this as a resource for fellow collectors on this rare piece of militaria as I could find little to no information online about these canteens. I can see that some mistakes have been made and I will likely return to this topic in the future but at the moment this will remain as the current rendition. Unfortunately I do not have hours upon hours to dedicate to researching this interesting piece of US field equipment as it appears you do. As I said before I could not find any information on this item at the time of the video so if you have this information I recommend you make a video yourself sharing your vast knowledge on this topic! I know I definitely would have appreciated it and I know many others would as well. Hope to see you on my channel in the future!

@nelsonormsby2739

2 жыл бұрын

When you revisit your video, please consider further: On July 23-24, 1942, the O.Q.M.G. convened meetings in Michigan to review results with Dow Chemical of its earlier work, to include Army field testing of the 10,000 canteens Dow had supplied the Quartermaster in May 1942, these experimental canteens made using various blends of ethyl cellulose and polyethylene as the thermoplastic material. With an eye to using the preferred ethyl cellulose material in manufacturing production plastic canteens, the O.Q.M.G. sought the expert advise of four additional companies, each possessing the requisite technical and manufacturing facilities, as to how they would propose using Dow’s ethyl cellulose raw material to mold and finish a plastic canteen. American Insulator was represented by Messieurs John W. Longheed and C.M. Norris, joined by representatives from Amos Molded Plastics, Edinburg, Indiana, The General Industries Co., Elyria, Ohio and Mack Molding Co., Arlington, Vermont. Shortly after this meeting, the Quartermaster awarded contracts to each of these four manufacturers for a total of 50,000 plastic canteens, meaning the Canteen Plastic production supplied by American Insulator likely totaled around 12,500. As a comparatively small contract by World War II procurement standards and not meeting the $50,000 contract value threshold required for the contract to be formally reported by the O.Q.M.G., there is no record of this contract in the Alphabetic Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, published (1946?) by the Civilian Production Administration, this document providing a cumulative list of major contracts awarded above $50,000 between June 1940 and September 1945.

There aren’t many people who could go into such great detail on a canteen, wonderful video!

@warhistorygeek6013

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment Chris! I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I hope to see you in the comments in the future!

Thanks man this video was pretty helpful. Just a few hours ago I got a tote full of basically nos wwii equipment issued to a specific soldier for $100. And in the lot was one of these canteens. Mines a AI Co. 1943 dated one with a 1942 cap with a cork interestingly enough. It’s in such good condition you can actually see through the canteen.

@warhistorygeek6013

2 жыл бұрын

That's awesome man! I love those personalized collections with a tracked story behind them. And I'm glad you found this helpful. That's what they're here for!

@nelsonormsby2739

2 жыл бұрын

“A.I.”? You are either reading “P.I.” or “G.I.” as “A.I.” Please see my list of manufacturers and marks used, as left in my tedious and laborious “ten part” comment.

@gl883

2 жыл бұрын

@@nelsonormsby2739 I suppose I should've worded that better. What I meant by A.I Co is just AICO or obviously the American insulator Co.

@nelsonormsby2739

2 жыл бұрын

@@gl883 roger that. Researchers of this material culture prefer to reference by maker stamps, but even that can be confusing. “S.M.CO.”, for example, was used by two canteen suppliers, but only one, Southeastern Metals Co, Decatur, Alabama delivered on 1945 contracts for Canteen M-1910. Yet dealers and collectors insist on identifying these canteens as the production of The Strong Manufacturing Co., Sebring, Ohio, or worse, Singer of sewing machine fame, who never supplied the QM with a canteen of any model or made of any material. As this video demonstrates, observation without primary source document research is like music without instruments.

This is the most I have seen on the ethocel canteen to date. Thank you for your hard work in putting this together. My ethocel canteen is unmarked and the "ears" on the body of the canteen to attach the cap chain is one solid piece, not two ears. Any information on this?

@nelsonormsby2739

2 жыл бұрын

I’m not sure what you mean by “ears”. If you are speaking of the lug molded into the canteen body, used with a pin to secure the canteen cap assembly to the canteen, if it has a double lug then it should be marked per my summary of manufactures left via my long comment and critique of this well-intended, and decidedly wide-of-the mark, video. If it has one lug and unmarked, then yours is one of the decidedly less frequently encountered experimental canteens, numbering on the order of 10,000, supplied the QM by Dow for field and lab testing.

@adriansmothers6075

2 жыл бұрын

@@nelsonormsby2739 Thank you for your answer. Mine must be one of the 10,000.

@warhistorygeek6013

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Just found a pitch black plastic US canteen while searching for some relics along the Market Garden area, (1944 september para operation in the Netherlands) like you said the canteen was put together from 2 parts during manufacturing, and I only found the top part. This video helped me identify that the canteen originated from 1942 due to the lid, but can I somehow figure out the maker from the color, or maybe some other information? Idk, just want to know a bit more about the canteen I found. Cool vid btw.

@warhistorygeek6013

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment and the kind words prank_name! It sounds like this is a very very interesting find that may provide a lot more valuable context to the story of these canteens! In my research I have never seen or heard of a black ethocel canteen which leads me to believe that after being buried in the ground for a long period of time the material discolored to a black color. However, this is just a hypothesis on my part since I have never heard of an example of these canteens being found in relic condition off of a battlefield! Unfortunately, with just the top half I don't believe we will be able to get much more information about your example however I will do everything I can to find something for you! Please reach out to me at warhistorygeek@gmail.com with some pictures so I can take a look at your find!

@prank_name3126

4 ай бұрын

@@warhistorygeek6013 Just send it over

Hey so I got a question. I was doing some organizing in my room and going through my canteens and happened to find a interesting canteen I had overlooked. It's a 3 piece horizontal smooth weld canteen with the newer style plastic cap. Interestingly enough the canteen has no manufacturers stamps at all on it. only a 9 etched into the bottom. Comparing it to my alluminum smooth weld three piece '43 USSCO canteen. Its a bit less rounded and has more of the shape of a horizontal weld Vollrath canteen. I think It may be post war but I am not Sure. If you have any idea what the manufacturer might be, let me know.

@warhistorygeek6013

2 жыл бұрын

Hey there GL. I wish I could be more help for you but unfortunately I don't know all the ins and outs of US canteen producers and their variations. I will look into your description and pass those details on to a couple friends of mine and get back to you ASAP. Thanks for the comment and hope to see you in my comments in the future!