Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of a WWI M1910 Canteen that comes with a dual history tied to it. This canteen, manufactured by Landers, Frary and Clark in 1918, started life off in the trenches of France and continued its service with the 297th Company, Civilian Conservation Corps.

Reserve officers from the U.S. Army were in charge of the camps, but there was no military training. There is a high possibility that this canteen was carried by one of these officers, but without a name or service number present, your guess is as good as ours. General Douglas MacArthur was placed in charge of the program, but said that the number of army officers and soldiers assigned to the camps was affecting the readiness of the regular army. However, the army also found numerous benefits in the program. When the draft began in 1940, the policy was to make CCC alumni corporals and sergeants. The CCC also provided command experience to Organized Reserve Corps officers. George Marshall "embraced" the CCC, unlike many of his brother officers.

Through the CCC, the regular army could assess the leadership performance of both regular and reserve officers. The CCC provided lessons which the army used in developing its wartime mobilization plans for training camps.

The 1909 Infantry Equipment Board introduced a completely new set of field equipment. The board had 300 sheet tinned steel canteens and cups manufactured by Rock Island Arsenal, and 500 canteens and cups manufactured by The Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company, sent out for trial in 1909. The company held a patent for the process of manufacturing seamless one piece products. In 1910 the board decided to adopt the aluminum canteen and the first production canteens were made by A.G.M. Co. in sets with cups.

In 1911 the Army began searching for a method of manufacturing canteens that would not require paying royalties to A.G.M. for the patented "spinning" process of making seamless aluminum canteens. By 1912 Rock Island Arsenal had developed a satisfactory technique of welding aluminum and went into production. The welded canteens were made of two halves that were welded together around the outer edge.

This canteen is a welded, 1918 dated Landers, Frary and Clark manufactured canteen with improved German silver neck with a lug which secures the cap chain with a small pin. This canteen has an improved cap featuring a domed top and full knurling on the side.

The canteen is in wonderful condition with the expected dings and dents present in the body, but the neck is dented in slightly. The engraved image detail is incredible and still easily discernible.

A wonderful example that comes more than ready for display!
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that supplied manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The CCC was designed to supply jobs for young men and to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States.

Robert Fechner was the first director of this agency, succeeded by James McEntee following Fechner's death. The largest enrollment at any one time was 300,000. Through the course of its nine years in operation, three million young men took part in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a wage of $30 (equivalent to $1000 in 2021) per month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families).

The American public made the CCC the most popular of all the New Deal programs. Sources written at the time claimed an individual's enrollment in the CCC led to improved physical condition, heightened morale, and increased employability. The CCC also led to a greater public awareness and appreciation of the outdoors and the nation's natural resources, and the continued need for a carefully planned, comprehensive national program for the protection and development of natural resources.

The CCC operated separate programs for veterans and Native Americans. Approximately 15,000 Native Americans took part in the program, helping them weather the Great Depression.

By 1942, with World War II raging and the draft in effect, the need for work relief declined, and Congress voted to close the program.