Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Discussions about US MREs and other US rations
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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:54 pm

Continued...



2021 04 27 - 13.jpg
Accessory Packet C

Coffee
Cream Substitute
Sugar
Candy
Salt
Chewing Gum
Matches
Toilet Paper

Cadillac Products, Inc.
Sterling Heights Michigan 48077



2021 04 27 - 14.jpg
This is all the Accessory Packets on the floor. I think there's 24 of them


Scott

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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Wed Apr 28, 2021 3:52 pm

Next two boxes...


2021 04 28 - 01.jpg
These are mostly filled with what the original owner labeled, "Home Assembled LRP's".



2021 04 28 - 02.jpg
Let's start with the box on the right. At the Estate Sale this was the box I thought had peaches in it but it was actually a pork or beef patty sealed in a clear plastic bag with a peach ration. At least I think it's all peaches, I haven't rooted through the entire box to see if there's any strawberries packed with the meat. The box was labeled "20 Beef & Fruit 20 Pork & Fruit"



2021 04 28 - 03.jpg
2021 04 28 - 04.jpg
"P" is for Pork - Pork & Peach package.



2021 04 28 - 05.jpg
2021 04 28 - 06.jpg
"B" is for Beef - Beef & Peach package.

Continued in next post...

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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:06 pm

Continued...



2021 04 28 - 11.jpg
Box on the left is next.



2021 04 28 - 12.jpg
2021 04 28 - 13.jpg
Moe of the same except these have crackers included in the sealed package...



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Although some of the seals are failing.



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In this box was also a MRE meal: Beef, Ground with Spiced Sauce. This was packaged in Evansville, IN which isn't too far from the farm I grew up on.



2021 04 28 - 16.jpg
...and some Applesauce.

Next we get to something "weird" ...or at least it looks weird to me.




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What do you gurus make of this? It looks to me like a MRE that's been "modified" with a Freeze Dried meal (Beef Stew) inserted for the Ground Beef with Spiced Sauce. Perhaps the loose MRE meal in this box was originally inside this Package?



2021 04 28 - 19.jpg
Here's a closeup of the top of this meal package. It looks to me like a homemade seal but I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has seen anything like this before.


Still a few boxes to go.


Scott

Jim_M1988
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Jim_M1988 » Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:16 pm

Definitely looks that way Scott, looks like home made seal. Why it's been sealed in the brown bag instead of just another clear packet like the others though I can't guess.
Does it feel like similar contents inside?

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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:39 pm

Jim_M1988 wrote:
Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:16 pm
Definitely looks that way Scott, looks like home made seal. Why it's been sealed in the brown bag instead of just another clear packet like the others though I can't guess.
Does it feel like similar contents inside?
Jim_M1988,

I'm inclined to believe that this (homemade?) sealed brown packet actually holds a Freeze Dried Beef Stew as labeled. Despite whatever else was going on with the original owner of this stuff, he seems to have been pretty good about labeling things accurately.

I've got 7 more boxes to go. These boxes are all Cardboard MRE Case Boxes. Four of those hold about 40 actual LRP's ...I think. HA! Like I've mentioned earlier, I'm a noob.

The remaining 3 boxes are what I'll be going through next and they may help with figuring out what's going on with these "modified" MRE bags. The first box has a combination of Clear Plastic Bags and the resealed Brown MRE Bags. Some of the Brown Bags in this box are deteriorating (split plastic bag) and I'll be looking at the contents of those to see what's in them.

The other two boxes have nothing but Brown MRE Bags in them. I just pulled a few out of those boxes to take a quick look. Most are resealed with "Pork" or "Beef" written on the bag. On others a freeze dried meal of some sort (Chicken & Rice, etc.) is written on them. A very few appear to be untouched and these have the "dehydrated pork" meal within. I think there also may have been an unopened bag that had Beef Patty (or something like that) on the label.

Anyway, I'll try to document those 3 boxes tomorrow. Should I open those Home Sealed Brown Bags at some point in the future, it will be interesting to see what the Freeze Dried Meal is. I suspect it will be a Mountain House meal but...

Best regards,

Scott

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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:14 pm

I just got finished photographing all the remaining boxes and their contents. That pretty much shot the morning and I need to mow the grass before I start posting those images.

...but in an act of blatant procrastination (regarding the mowing), I'm going to explain a couple of things that might not be clear to some folks scattered around the world - perhaps even in the USA.

Estate Sale

When I was a youngster, growing up on a farm in the turbulent 60's, when a person passed away and his/her heirs were dealing with the detritus of the estate there would be an auction.

Now, at least in this part of the world (metro Atlanta Georgia USA), the solution to that issue is generally not an auction but an Estate "Tag Sale". A business comes onto the property of the deceased and labels (tags) almost everything with a price. Generally these Estate Sales last 2 to 4 days. The first day there is usually no movement on the price but each day thereafter the price is reduced by a percentage - so 100% the first day, 25% off the tagged price the second day and 50% the third day, etc. Towards the end of the multi-day event, deals are made for large lots of whatever is left. The financial results of the sale are divided in some fashion between the heirs and the business running the sale.

Mountain House Freeze Dried Meal

In the USA there is a company that makes Freeze Dried Meals for Backpackers. The Company started in the late 60's as a civilian offshoot of a supplier of Freeze Dried Meals for the US Military (Oregon Freeze Dry). Apparently an Outdoor Supply Company called REI Co-op sent a rather informal letter to Oregon Freeze Dry asking if they might make meals for backpackers. Mountain House is still in business and doing quite well. I have been a loyal customer for over 15 years.

The History of Mountain House

The Estate Sale I bought the LRP's & LRP components from also had a LOT of vintage Mountain House food. If I open up the "Resealed MRE to LRP Converted Meals", that are relabeled as something other Pork or Beef, I'm betting there's going to be a vintage Mountain House meal inside.



MountainHouse01.jpg
This is part of what was at the Estate Sale and is probably from the late 70's to late 80's. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I bought all the food. HA!


The last part of this "off-topic intermission" is to provide some speculation into the mindset of the original owner of this food ...and other items in his basement.

The packing slips on the boxes of the Individual items from SI Equipment had an address of 295 Luckie Street, Atlanta GA as the recipient's address. At first I thought this was the address of a middle-man or a retail business but, upon further review, I have determined that this address was somehow associated with the person that put all this in his basement.

295 Luckie Street no longer exists as that address (and a lot more) was wiped slick (Urban Renewal) to provide some space in downtown Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics. This is now the location of Centennial Park. In the late 80's, when the purchase of all this food was made, that address was in a VERY interesting area. My wife was a flight attendant, based in Atlanta, for Eastern Airlines in the 80's. I remember going to downtown Atlanta for some reason and I was walking on a street very close to the 295 Luckie Street address. The main reason I remember being there was a large billboard type sign, high on a building, that read: "Welcome to Atlanta - The most dangerous city in America." below that was a running total of the murders, rapes, armed robberies, etc.
I'm sure the city fathers loved the citizen that paid for that billboard. HA!

Anyway, perhaps the above gives a partial insight into the motivations of the original owner of these rations.

We will return to the the unboxing of these rations this evening.

Scott
Last edited by Scott-GA on Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:26 pm

Today's 3 boxes...



2021 04 29 - 01.jpg
2021 04 29 - 02.jpg
The first box on the right has a combination of Home Assembled Clear Plastic LRP's and a few "Replaced Items" Brown Pouch Home Assembled LRP's. The other two boxes are filled with the "Replaced Items" Brown Pouch Home Assembled LRP's with a few untouched brown pouches among those.



2021 04 29 - 03.jpg
Let's look at what's in the first box...



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2021 04 29 - 05.jpg
We'll start with the clear plastic Home Assembled items. I found a LRP Pork that the plastic was deteriorating and that allowed me to look at the contents without disturbing a sealed bag.


2021 04 29 - 06.jpg
Left to right: Accessory Packet A; Pork Patty; Peaches; Pork Patty



2021 04 29 - 07.jpg
I am assuming the Home Assembled LRP Beef has the same basic contents as the Pork example.



2021 04 29 - 08.jpg
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I found one of the Brown Pouch Home Assembled Beef LRP's had the plastic deteriorating and pulled it out of the box to examine the contents.



2021 04 29 - 10.jpg
Top Row, Left to Right: Cocoa Beverage Powder; Accessory Packet C; Spoon; Beef Patty
Bottom Row, Left to Right: Peaches; Beef Patty

I'm assuming the other brown pouches are constructed with similar components.


Continued in next post...

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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:41 pm

Continued...

On to the second box.



2021 04 29 - 21.jpg
2021 04 29 - 22.jpg
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I pulled out 6 of the brown pouches and examined each one.

Top Row, Left to Right.

Menu 9 - with the main course scratched out - Chicken/Rice (F/D) written on pouch

Menu 3 - Beef Patty - some information scratched out.

Menu 8 - with the main course scratched out - Lasagna (F/D) written on pouch

Bottom Row, Left to Right.

Menu 1 - Pork Patty

Menu 8 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch

Menu 9 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch



2021 04 29 - 24.jpg
2021 04 29 - 25.jpg
I pulled out the remaining 6 brown pouches and examined each one.

Top Row, Left to Right.

Menu 6 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch

Menu 11 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch

Menu 9 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch

Bottom Row, Left to Right.

Menu 4 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Beef written on pouch

Menu 1 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch

Menu 3 - with the main course scratched out - F/D Pork written on pouch



2021 04 29 - 26.jpg
The middle item in the bottom row had a torn package. I removed the contents to examine them.

Left Column from Top to Bottom: Cocoa Beverage Powder; Grape Beverage Powder; Spoon; Pork Patty
Right Column from Top to Bottom: Accessory Packet C; Cracker; Strawberries


Continued in next post...

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Scott-GA
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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by Scott-GA » Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:53 pm

Continued...

On to box 3.


2021 04 29 - 31.jpg
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As before, I removed 6 of the 12 brown pouches and examined them.

Top Row, Left to Right.

Menu 12 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Beef written on pouch

Menu 2 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Beef written on pouch

Beef Patties Circled - LRP written on pouch

Bottom Row, Left to Right.

Menu 9 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Beef written on pouch

Menu 5 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Beef written on pouch

Menu 11 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Beef written on pouch



2021 04 29 - 34.jpg
2021 04 29 - 35.jpg
I pulled out the remaining 6 brown pouches and examined them.

Top Row, Left to Right.

Menu 1 - appears to be an unmodified MRE

Menu 4 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Pork written on pouch

Menu 6 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Pork written on pouch

Bottom Row, Left to Right.

Menu 10 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Pork written on pouch

Menu 7 - with the main course scratched out - LRP Pork written on pouch

Menu ? - with the main course scratched out - LRP Pork written on pouch

So that's today's boxes. I hope to document the 4 remaining boxes containing about 40 actual LRP's tomorrow.

Scott

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Re: Estate Sale Purchase - Late 80's Prepper

Post by ancienttyrael » Fri Apr 30, 2021 5:32 am

Whoever this man was, he was pretty dedicated on creating his own custom LRPs. I'm guessing he wanted to make sure to have MREs that would last a long time and can be handed out easy.

Keep the pics coming this is pretty cool stuff. I would definitely would like to grab some of those custom packs for kinda of a novelty (oh heck, and taste!).

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