Just found a 1969 MCI!

[20manderson]

I was going through old things in my attic and found an MCI. Most likely from when my grandfather was in the military.

It includes:

Ham, sliced

Peach Jam

Applesauce(has a hole in it and oozes black liquid)

B-3A unit (not sure whats in here i think crackers)

coca powder

1 spoon

2 accessory packets(Marlboro cigarettes, gum toilet paper, coffee instant type 2, dry creamer, sugar, salt, inter-dental stimulant)

This is my first discovery of an MRE(or MCI) I watch stevemre1989 and was excited when I found this MCI in good condition.

I have a few questions about it:

1- I want to try the coffee, how will I know if it's good/safe?

2- What should I do with this MCI? Can I sell it/donate it somewhere?

[elandil]

nice find...

[Eistee]

1- I want to try the coffee, how will I know if it's good/safe?

2- What should I do with this MCI? Can I sell it/donate it somewhere?

First of all: congrats to this great find.

To your first question: the coffee is only good if its not dry molded, meaning if you rip open the package and see white fluffy stuff (dry mold) its no good.
Also you should try the cocoa beverage, it seems to be in very good condition.

Regarding your second question: if at all you can only sell the cans by itself, the box is damaged so i dont think a collector would give much for it.
But my recommendation would be to keep it and try it yourself.

[Simon2002mre]

Welcome to the forum!!
And great find! If it was in an attic it should be alright, so if you are hurting for money (Aren't we all ) then sell it but if not, eat it! This was from your grandfather, if not eating, its a cool collector!
Cheers, and hope to see you around!
-Simon

[SentientTootsieRoll]

I'd be willing to bet a fair amount of money that the coffee is still good. I believe the US ration coffee from that era was spray dried and as a result, it lasts for a very long time. The sugar is also likely fine. The only thing I'd be skeptical about is the creamer. If the packaging feels solid, it's not good in which case I'd keep it unopened for display. If it's still powdered, I'll bet it's okay but I would put a small bit on my finger and let it set on my tongue for a few seconds to see if my taste buds react negatively to it. If they don't then you've got yourself a full set of drinkable MCI coffee!

At risk of sounding like Captain Obvious: what you do with it is entirely up to you. I would personally encourage you to open it up, take pictures and post your experiences to the reviews section of this forum. Otherwise, you could look into selling it on eBay for a competitive price. I noticed the MCIs with cigarettes go for quite a bit, usually around $50-70 shipped.

You may donate it, but that gets a little interesting. Most of those rations have busted open over time and have started leaking and I'm sure this one will before long. I would open and document the ration, save everything, clean it and put everything back in the box and keep it for display or find someone who would be interested in it.