Help identifying old US Army Accessory Packet

[QMGE81A]

Hey, hoping you guys can help me identify this old Accessory Packet. I picked it up years ago at a military collectibles show. It was before I was into MREs and Rations. Well the wife sent me to clean the storage bin out yesterday and I rediscovered it. I am assuming Vietnam era with the Malaria warning on the matches.

Packet exterior

Contents list reads:
Water Purification Tablets
Matches
Toilet Paper
Can Opener, Small
Chewing Gum
Coffee
Sugar
Cigarettes
Plastic Spoons
Waterproof Bag

Inside it appears to be foil lined:

Packet interior

It was opened before I bought it. The only remaining contents are 4 packets of Scott's Toilet Tissue, 2 books of matches, and 2 water purification vials:

All contents

The two water purification vials appear to be different styles:

Water purification

Anyone want to take a stab at a rough year this is from?

Thanks,
Jason

[kman]

The Wikipedia entry for c-rations has some interesting info that might help here:

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-ration

The accessory pack

Originally, the accessories and condiments were put in a 12-ounce can. However, their bulk led to the development of an accessory package.[13]

The brown butcher paper accessory pack contained sugar tablets, halazone water purification tablets, a flat wooden spoon, a piece of candy-coated chewing gum, 3 "short" sample 3-packs or one "long" sample 9-pack of commercial-grade cigarettes and a book of 20 cardboard moisture-resistant matches, a paper-wrapped P-38 can opener printed with instructions for its proper use, and several sheets of toilet paper. The P-38 can openers were generally worn on the GI's "dog tag" chain to facilitate opening the next meal's cans.

In 1945, the accessory pack was modified. Per the order of the Surgeon General, the halazone tablets were removed and salt tablets were added. Also, feedback from the field revealed that soldiers who smoked often opened up accessory packs just to get the cigarettes and threw away the rest of the items. To reduce waste, the accessory pack was now divided into the "short" pack with cigarettes and matches and the "long" pack containing the other accessories.

The article reference above ([13]) points to an Army Quartermaster article that also has some interesting info:

http://www.qmfound.com/army_rations_his ... ground.htm

I'm still looking around but at first guess, I'd say it looks like something from the Korea or Vietnam eras.

[biscuits brown]

Its a 1950 Ration Combat Individual accessory pack.
Ive found a November 1950 pamplet "Operational Rations, supplements and food packs issued by the US Army" Its on line
The accessory pack contents list tally exactly with yours.

[biscuits brown]

BTW this appears to be the very first use of plastic spoons in US ration packs.
The plastic spoon description on the pack is unique, because before this, including the short lived E ration of 1946-48 (?) all spoons included were wooden.

[kman]

Nice find, biscuits brown! I had forgotten about all those rations guides on Natick's site. Here's a link to everything:

Natick's History of Combat Rations
http://www.natick.army.mil/soldier/about/food/history/

And here's a direct link to "1950s Operational Rations" where you can find the Accessory Pack contents on page 9:
http://www.natick.army.mil/soldier/abou ... s_1950.pdf

Ration, Individual, Combat from the 1950s

[biscuits brown]

Thanks for providing the links Kman!
There is some outstanding historical material there.

[QMGE81A]

Kman and biscuits brown, thank you both for the help figuring out the year. Kman that link you posted is a really good read.

I remember when I bought the accessory packet the guy tried to tell me it was from WWII. I bought it along with this First Field Dressing dated February 1943 for the whopping sum of $3 so guess I did okay, lol. Thank you both again!