A Christmas Gift from 1917: The Oneida Community Limited (O.C.L.) 3-Piece Mess Kit.
Seasons' greetings all,
While I much prefer pursuing O.C.L.’s WWI Trench Knives’ variants, this is an interesting side-diversion for any Oneida martial collector. This is a three-piece set offered for sale by Oneida in fall of 1917. The kit’s marketing campaign was targeted towards soldiers’ family members who were on the hunt for an affordable Christmas present for their boys in uniform.
Below advert is from: The Bulletin Nov 26, 1917.
Below advert is from: Arkansas Democrat Nov 21, 1917.
Below advert is from: The Oklahoma City Times Nov 27, 1917.
One would assume, this Mess Kit Set would be included in a parcel of other gifted goods (like socks or cigarettes) and not a stand-alone gift. Though, according to contemporary adverts, these sets could be posted directly to the soldier by the vendor. The highest period price appears to have been $2.00 with engraving included and the lowest listed price was $.79 Cents.
Below, a close-up of the blade's markings.
While a useful set, they are not as robust/beefy/rugged as the standard issued US M-1910 Utensils and IMHO, would not last long when living under “field” conditions. With many years of hindsight, I’d reckon, this “kit” was an ingenious marketing campaign for O.C.L. to liquidate large stocks of on-hand (Read: unsold) silver plated flatware.
In any case, a nice snapshot of a Christmas Holiday’s gift from 1917.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all forum members!
V/r Lance
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