Original Items: Only One Grouping Available. The uniform and equipment used by the American soldier during the time of the Great War was unique to the early 20th Century and also adapted to the rapid changes required by modern warfare at that time. The first decade of the 20th century was a period of great change for the Army.

During this period the office of the Chief of Staff was created, the militia act was
modified leading to the creation of the National Guard, and a number of branches
and departments were created or reorganized, including the Army Nurse Corps, and
the reorganization of the Artillery into an Artillery Corps consisting of the Field Artillery and Coast Artillery. At the same time, the vast majority of troops were outside the country on occupation duty or containing the insurgency in the Philippines. In the period following the Spanish American War the Army again took a hard look at its uniforms, accouterments and weapons. In 1902 a board was assembled in Washington, to review the Army's uniforms, and on July 17, 1902 the results of the board's deliberations were published as General Order No.81. This General Order made significant changes in how the Army looked.

The Items In This Grouping:
- Brass “Trench” Whistle with Leather Lanyard by B&R: B&R was the largest company to make whistles since the late 19th century with little knowledge known about the company.

Many Models of B & R whistles are to be found with various stamps; they made whistles up to the late 1930’s or 40’s. The whistle and lanyard are in good condition and the whistle still retains the original wood ball on the inside.

- Brass Pocket Compass by S&W New York: The face is graduated every 5 degrees and numbered every 20 degrees. The “S.&W.N.Y.” inscription refers to Schwab & Wuischpard, a firm that began in business in New York in the 1920s, specialized in watch cases, and made compasses of this sort during World War II.

- Marble Arms & Manufacturing Co Pin On Compass: This is a nice old pin-on compass by the Marble Arms & Manufacturing Company from the early 1940s. Marble Arms operated out of Gladstone, Michigan beginning in 1892, and was first known for their manufacture of a rifle sight. This compass clips on when the two prong arms are squeezed together and secured in the curvature of the main, stationary arm. There is speculation that this compass may have been copied after German compasses and was used in United States Army Air Forces Escape & Evasion kits.

- Bowers Windproof “Trench” Lighter: This type of windproof lighter did not exist during World War 1, but is often wrongly described as a "Trench Lighter" due to dating confusion and/or value manipulation. The original design for these Bowers lighters was patented in Austria by Hans Silberknopf during 1925/1926. IMCO manufactured and distributed this lighter design worldwide for 5 to 10 years before Bowers produced variations of it.

These Bowers lighters are often called "Sure-Fire" because this branding is sometimes engraved on the outer wind guard. "Sure-Fire" is not a name that applies to a specific lighter model, Bowers used this branding for some flip-top windproof lighters too. "Kalamazoo Wind Proof Lighter", "Bowers Windproof Lighter" and "Kalamazoo All-Weather Lighter" are different names used for these lighters in advertising. Bowers began manufacturing these lighter in the early 1930s and produced them for about 20 years. Two significantly different versions were produced and numerous subtle manufacturing variations exist among these.

- U.S. WWI Victory Medal: The World War I Victory Medal (known prior to establishment of the World War II Victory Medal in 1945 simply as the Victory Medal) was a United States service medal designed by James Earle Fraser of New York City under the direction of the Commission of Fine Arts.

The front of the bronze medal features a winged Victory holding a shield and sword on the front. The back of the bronze medal features "The Great War For Civilization" in all capital letters curved along the top of the medal. Curved along the bottom of the back of the medal are six stars, three on either side of the center column of seven staffs wrapped in a cord. The top of the staff has a round ball on top and is winged on the side. The staff is on top of a shield that says "U" on the left side of the staff and "S" on the right side of the staff. On left side of the staff it lists one World War I Allied country per line: France, Italy, Serbia, Japan, Montenegro, Russia, and Greece. On the right side of the staff the Allied country names read: Great Britain, Belgium, Brazil, Portugal, Rumania (spelled with a U instead of an O as it is spelled now), and China.

- U.K. WWI Victory Medal for Acting Serjeant I. Cowell: The Victory Medal (also called the Inter-Allied Victory Medal) is a United Kingdom and British Empire First World War campaign medal.

The award of a common allied campaign medal was recommended by an inter-allied committee in March 1919. Each allied nation would design a 'Victory Medal' for award to their own nationals, all issues having certain common features, including a winged figure of victory on the obverse and the same ribbon. Fourteen countries finally awarded the medal.

A lovely grouping ready for further research and display.