Item Description
Original Items: Only One Available.The K-ration was an individual daily combat food ration which was introduced by the United States Army during World War II. It was originally intended as an individually packaged daily ration for issue to airborne troops, tank crews, motorcycle couriers, and other mobile forces for a short duration. The K-ration provided three separately boxed meal units: breakfast, dinner (lunch) and supper (dinner).
The K-ration originally came packed in an unbleached tan-colored rectangular cardstock box with black lettering. The outer box was printed on its top in bold capital sans serif block letter type with the text: "US ARMY FIELD RATION K", with the meal unit type (BREAKFAST, DINNER, or SUPPER UNIT) printed underneath it and a capital letter on each end (B, D, or S). While it was intended that the three meals be eaten in their named order, they were not always consumed in this manner. The inner box had the meal unit type printed across its top and a capital letter on each end (B, D, or S).
The later "Morale Series" had unique packaging designs that were color-coded and letter-coded on the ends for quick identification. The breakfast ration box had brown printing and was marked with a brown capital letter "B" on the ends, the dinner ration box had blue printing and was marked with a blue capital letter "D" on the ends, and the supper ration box had olive drab printing and was marked with an olive drab capital "S" on the ends. The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa.
The entrée came in a small, round metal can painted green with black lettering, with a metal key (dubbed a "twist key") to open it, packaged in a roughly square 3 × 23⁄4 × 17⁄16 inch (7.5 × 7 × 3.7 cm) cardboard box.
The rest of the meal came packed neatly in a waxed paper or laminated cellophane pack. The pack always contained two packages of 8 rectangular K-1 or 4 square K-2 calorie-dense cracker biscuits each, a 4-pack of commercial-grade cigarettes, and either a flat rectangular stick of chewing gum or a square piece of candy-coated gum. Special items (like matches or Halazone tablets) were packed in one unit but not the others due to space limitations. Late production meals added a paper-wrapped paddle-like disposable wooden spoon and used the standard P-38 can opener instead of the "twist key".
This K-ration set contains the following items:
- Processed American Cheese and Bacon entrée contained in a small, round metal can painted green with black lettering.
- 8 rectangular K-1 cracker biscuits
- 4 Pack of Camel cigarettes
- Matchbook
- 1 stick of Wrigley's Cinnamon Chewing Gum
- Cubed Sugar
- Mars candy bar.
- Powdered beverage packet orange (c. 1943)
Idiot Clause - the contents of this kit are pre-1945 manufacture and are NOT suitable for consuption. They are being sold as novelty collector pieces only. Even though some people on youtube have tried. Yuk!
- This product is available for international shipping.
- Eligible for all payments - Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, Paypal & Sezzle
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