The American Doughboy was equipped with a variety of individual issued personal equipment, which included mess gear. The army determined it was to the benefit of the individual soldier that each man in the field was issued a meat can, condiment can, canteen and cup, knife, fork and spoon as well as associated carriers for this gear.

Developed as part of a turn of the century modernization effort, the new equipment was designated as the Model 1910 pattern. Although eight years elapsed between its adoption and America's entry into the Great War in 1917 there were only subtle modifications to the original issue.

The M 1910 pattern personal equipment had no military acceptance marking other than the "US" found stamped or stenciled on the equipment and carriers. Although not required, manufactures often marked their products with their company logo and at times the date of manufacture. In addition, personal gear was often marked with unit designations as well as personal markings or decorations. This was allowed since this issued equipment was considered as "Personal Gear" the soldier in the field ran little risk of getting into trouble for applying a variety of personal decorations. Surviving examples of this personalization of individual equipment has become quite desirable to collectors and is often referred to as "Trench Art". 

After the Armistice of 1918 the American government found themselves with huge inventories of military gear. Since WWI was the "War to End all Wars" these inventories of both new and salvaged gear were both expensive to ship back as well as store. Returning soldiers were allowed to keep certain "personal equipment" items as souvenirs which included the canteens, mess kits and much of the other gear described below.  

In the 20's some of these huge inventories were released as surplus to the civilian markets. These sturdy utensils found their way to Boy Scouts, campers and outdoorsmen all over the nation. WW2 saw tons of these items turned into scrap for the war effort or reissued to the new armies in the field, particularly in the early days. Although attrition must have been significant large quantities seem to have survived.  By the 1970s examples could still be found in flea markets and surplus stores at prices that rarely exceeded a couple of dollars. But times are a changing as collector interest peaks and examples coming "out of the woodwork" has shrunk to a trickle.  Today these one time surplus items has joined the list of military collectables and prices have begun to climb. 

For each of the categories below there is an overview of what the novice collector can expect to find on the market. They are by in large "common" examples, the more exotic to be addressed at another time.

	M1910 Meat Can (Messkit)		M1910 Canteen Assembly
	M1910 Bacon & Condiment Cans		Personal and Manufactures Marks
	Battlefield Recoveries		Return to Home