US Ration Spoons

[mreheater72]

I have the same one spoon (photo : spoon). I cant remember where from. But I dont think its out of a MRE.
If this kind of spoon has been in dark brown MREs then I must have more than this one because I had realy a lot of the dark brown MREs in the past...
I think its out of a commercial food paket e.g.GA Sun Meadow or another company which supports the Army with food.

I took a look at my basement for other spoons and found:
dining packets out of a small cardboard box with fork and knife, marking "NIB 39083"(photo 2: packet fork.knife.spoon) I guess out of a former group ration.
and one dining packet "Type II" with tan/sand spoon,fork,knife and other things.surprising is the original sugar packet like those in the MRE Acces.Packets. (photo : Dining Packet Type II)This kind of dining packet is from the late 80s/early 90s,maybe also out of a former group ration

Thanks for your photos and information ! It is amazing how the shape of flatware changes in the Dining Packets through the time .

I remember being trained to use an MRE spoon, to set up a Claymore mine, trip-wire activated, in the early '1980's.

Hi Dave- Yes, I remember that technique for setting Claymores with a tripwire, too. I was also US Army in the early 80s.

I found it in an old manual that I kept (FM 21-75, "Combat Skills of the Soldier"). The manual is dated 1984, but they are still calling it a "C Ration spoon". I recall that we were still eating the existing stocks of C Rats about half the time, and getting the "new" brown bag MREs the rest of the time. Same white spoon in both.

I've scanned the relevant pages for old times' sake. To summarize it, a Claymore's blasting cap is set to detonate by a battery. The plastic spoon is nonconductive, so its used in conjunction with a clothespin to keep two wires from touching and completing the circuit. A tripwire pulls the spoon out of the way to detonate the mine.

Very interesting ! Thanks for that display that shows a very strange use for a ration spoon!

the green and sand sets are from ugr/t rat kits.
cheers ken

Thanks for the photo ! The brown spoon has really the same shape as “my” white one . Never seen that before! Also from MRE?? The green and tan flatware I also know from group rations!

So long mreheater72

[mreheater72]

Hi guys,

my latest eBay trade is a case with 1000 (!) Waldorf Soup Spoons for 5,40 EURO, that´s about 6,50 USD . I’m not sure whether they are military issue or commercial . The ebay seller mentioned the case is a leftover from a REFORGER exercise in Hessen, Germany 1983.

Some photos:

The closed case, there is no advice of a packing date visible:


The closed case in comparison to an usual MRE case:


A stamp on the case: AAFES, Rotterdam and the former army depot in Giessen, Germany is mentioned:


Single spoon in wrapper, I pulled it out of the box through a small hole in the card board:


VAN BRODE printing on the spoon:


So long mreheater72

[housil]

You got `em

I hope you´ll write reviews about the 1000 meals you will have with them now.

[mreheater72]

...I hope you´ll write reviews about the 1000 meals you will have with them now.

I´m not quite sure whether I own 1000 MREs

[Treesuit]

MREheater72,

That is very interesting. Most of the time plastic ware is kept in reserve in most supply sections and dining facilites. Soup spoons are very rarely ordered because most folks don't eat with them, they normally use the regular spoon. For when units go to the field sometimes the supply section sometimes uses these when they have nothing else. Or if dining facilites have problems with the dishwashers in the plastic will come out. Just some fun facts..I think what you have here is something that may have been ordered by AAFES but never used probably because there wasn't a big need for it.

[dirtbag]

Where I work, we have a few boxes of knives/forks/spoons/plates in the supply room,used for BBQ's here.
They look the same, sorry no pics, no cameras allowed...

[biscuits brown]

Hi guys,

my latest eBay trade is a case with 1000 (!) Waldorf Soup Spoons for 5,40 EURO, that´s about 6,50 USD . I’m not sure whether they are military issue or commercial . The ebay seller mentioned the case is a leftover from a REFORGER exercise in Hessen, Germany 1983.

Some photos:

The closed case, there is no advice of a packing date visible:


The closed case in comparison to an usual MRE case:


A stamp on the case: AAFES, Rotterdam and the former army depot in Giessen, Germany is mentioned:


Single spoon in wrapper, I pulled it out of the box through a small hole in the card board:


VAN BRODE printing on the spoon:


So long mreheater72

Hagen What is the largest German city to Giessen?

That website you gave upthread has all the US army QM batts, history and location, also gives good info on what was their areas of responsibilty and what was stored under their area.

Also these Reforger exercises..were there any Civil Defence aspects to them? people locally being involved, civilian resupply aspects, food etc?

I ask this because I came across a UK website, giving all details of civil defence in the UK from the 50s to 1983 and there was a section there on post nuclear feeding. It was found that in the early 80s there were in store only 50,000 plastic spoons FOR THE WHOLE of THE COUNTY OF ESSEX (East of London) Essex has a population of over 3 million.. .

I will try to find the site again and try to link it.
The site noted this specifically. Disposable cutlery in a post nuclear situation for civilians being fed seemed a matter of concern.

It is strange too that they are SOUP spoons, because all the civilian feeding would have seemed to have been based on mass produced thin stews or soups, at best.
The UK site even has a receipe for a post nuclear "soup" for 200 people. Its terrible. Less than a few hundred calories. Bread if very lucky. Doubtful any bakeries would be functioning anywhere anyway so this must have been optimism.

Maybe AFEES was bulking up civilian German supplies. There may be other examples across NATO countries of this type of supply in existence. If they turn up on EBay it would be interesting.
So this may have a more serious history than we think this box of civilian (I think) spoons.

[mreheater72]

…Most of the time plastic ware is kept in reserve in most supply sections and dining facilites. Soup spoons are very rarely ordered because most folks don't eat with them, they normally use the regular spoon. For when units go to the field sometimes the supply section sometimes uses these when they have nothing else. Or if dining facilites have problems with the dishwashers in the plastic will come out. Just some fun facts..I think what you have here is something that may have been ordered by AAFES but never used probably because there wasn't a big need for it.

Brian, thanks a lot for the very interesting information !

Hagen What is the largest German city to Giessen?

Simon, sorry, but I have some problem with understanding !?

So long mreheater72

[housil]

Hagen What is the largest German city to Giessen?

Simon, sorry, but I have some problem with understanding !?

Gießen is ~30minutes north of Frankfurt. Rhein-Main-area had unnumbered US facilities.

[biscuits brown]

Hagen What is the largest German city to Giessen?

Simon, sorry, but I have some problem with understanding !?

So long mreheater72[/quote]
Its my fault H I should have been more clear!

Thanks Olli! That explains a lot.

Now I will check what supply units were in the area, and any clue as to what they may have specialised in etc in the 70s -80s.

I still think these spoons were for mass civilian feeding. Just a hunch..