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. Although eight years elapsed between its adoption and America's entry into the Great War there had been only subtle modifications to the original issue.

There was no military acceptance marking other than the "US" found stamped or stenciled on the carriers or the equipment. However often manufactures marked their products with their company's logo and at times the date of manufacture. Although it was not a requirement, the dating and marking of equipment has created another field for collector specialization.

In addition, as evidenced by surviving artifacts, personal gear was often marked with unit designations as well as personal markings or decorations. It is important to remember that since this gear was considered as "Personal Gear" the soldier in the field ran little risk of getting into trouble for decorating his personal gear. Personalization again has become a highly desirable collector's field and is often referred to as "Trench Art". The most common personal decoration is the owner's name or some other identification. Still more desirable to collectors are the examples  elaborately engraved with names, unit designations, campaign histories and other inscriptions. As prices escalate and available examples are rounded up fakes begin to show up. Since the most common method of applying decorations was to simply scratch into the soft aluminum the incidence of fakery provides the collector with a challenge to ensure a decorated item is authentic.

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 and store. Returning soldiers were allowed to keep certain "personal equipment" items as souvenirs.  This included the canteens, mess kits and much of the other gear described below.  In the 20's some of the 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. However, the survival rate of these items was still significant. 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.

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