|
MODEL 1906 US ARMY MESS CUP – RARE
TRANSITIONAL PATTERN WITHOUT THE SLOT IN THE HANDLE:
Far less common than the
Models 1874, 1885, and the later Model 1908 Experimental
Mess Cups, the Model 1906 Mess Cup was the first US Army
general issue mess cup made of aluminum.
To place this cup in historical perspective, a little
“cup history” might be helpful. According to Paul L.
Hedren in his well written article “Army Tin Cups on the
Western Frontier” published in the Company of Military
Historians periodical, the army experimented with
aluminum cups as early as the 1890’s and some aluminum
cups were introduced for trial as early as 1902, but due
to the heat conductivity of the metal, the cups were not
popular with the soldiers.
In 1901 the army adopted a tin plated one-piece drawn
bottom steel cup that was the last version of the tinned
US Army cups. For all intent and purposes, the design
and form of the 1901 Cup was identical to the cup
pictured here except that the 1901 Cup did not
incorporate the cork washers between the handle and body
of the cup as found on the aluminum 1906 Cups.
While this cup incorporates all of the known features of
the standard Model 1906 Cup – aluminum body, steel
handle insulated with cork washers, and the standard
“U.S., R.I.A. 1906” stamping on the handle –
there is no slot in the
handle that was present in the later production Model
1906 Cups that enabled the soldier could use the tines
of the his fork to introduce or retrieve the cup from
the fire without burning his hands. It is worthy of
note that I have had a Model 1906 Cup dated 1907 that
did include the slot.
Given the marked similarity of the pattern of this cup
to the earlier Model 1901 Cup, coupled with the first
year of production date stamped on the handle and the
lack of the slot in the handle, this Model 1906 Cup
appears to be a short lived transitional model and was
apparently limited to the first year of production and
quite possibly a single production run at the arsenal,
making it a very rare specimen. Further, as the
slotted handle appears on later dated cups, this
specimen serves to fix the year that the army included
the slot in the handle.
This aluminum cup measures 4” high and 4” in diameter,
was press formed with the bottom integral to the sides,
has a rolled lip, and an iron handle riveted to the side
of the cup. The cup is full form, with a few minor
dents from handling and storage, but no holes and no
cracks in the rolled rim as is often found. The handle
is full form, the arsenal stamping is clear and legible,
and both of the cork washers are present and intact.
This is a very special example of
the Model 1906 Cup and would be an important addition to
a collection of US Army Mess Gear.
SOLD
|
