What do you make of this?
Strange Frog On Japanese Bayonet
What do you make of this?
Might not be Japanese as it says 'Lewis,' unless made from captured webbing of course.
A friend of mine is big into Japanese stuff and he has several of these rubberized canvas frogs. He said they were to be replacements for the leather that rotted very fast in the jungle. It was also cheaper to make them and much faster to produce.
The name on it appears to be a G.I.'s id stamping kit, the ones used to mark your uniforms and property (they have barely changed in 70 years) Most likely he stamped his name on so if someone walked off with it he could identify it.
Rubberized canvas would make sense, as absolutely everything either rusted or rotted in the jungle.
As for the stamp - good point. In that case the G.I. would hardly be a grunt but most like a rear echelon soldier, as those in the trenches hardly would have access to stamps.
My friend has a lot of different rubberized items in his collection. When I first ran into them 20 years ago I thought "what the??"
The stamping could have been put on during occupation of Japan also. Remember all the stories of G.I."s getting Arisaka's, flags and such from the ware houses.
Certainly within the realm of the possible.
An original Japanese ruberized frog. I think it has indeed been stamped with the name of an allied serviceman, but who knows for sure.
That would make sense... I hadn't seen one of these before and the stamping was throwing me for a loop.
One of the many numerous Japanese frog variations. Can also be found with rubberized strap. Rare variant to look for is leather( hanger) with rubberized body. I also agree stamp is likely GI. Some had these stamps made & would stamp all their belongings
The Japanese started using rubberized canvas as soon as they realized that their leather goods were rotting away in the jungles of South East Asia. This type of material is also commonly seen on rifle slings and pistol holsters... I'm not sure if they ever made rifle ammo pouches or field gear straps out of it.
These rubberized canvas items tend to harden like a rock over time or become very gooey!
I assume the stamp is something the G.I. added in order to mark his new souvenir.
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