Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 11:
Description
SCARCE WWII K-Ration Dinner Unit, Morale Series, Hiram Walker & Sons, Opened. U.S. Army Ration Type K, Dinner Unit, in its blue-camouflage Morale Series carton, packaged by Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc., Peoria, Illinois – opened with multiple original components surviving inside. This lot presents a genuine and highly displayable example of the late-war K-Ration Dinner unit, one of three color-coded meal boxes issued to American combat troops under the Quartermaster Corps’ 1944 ‘Morale Series’ redesign. The outer sleeve retains its distinctive dark blue and tan swirl graphics, the bold ‘Dinner’ title, the ‘Ration Type K’ roundel, and the prominent ‘D’ end-flap marking used for rapid field identification. The reverse panel lists the standard contents – cheese, assorted biscuits, confection, beverage, sugar, chewing gum, cigarettes, matches, and salt tablets – while the maker’s imprint, ‘Packaged by Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc., Peoria 1, Illinois, ‘ confirms the wartime conversion of a major commercial distiller into a ration-assembly contractor for the Quartermaster Corps. The K-Ration traces its origin to 1941, when physiologist Dr. Ancel Keys developed a compact, calorie-dense field ration for paratroopers, armored crews, and other mobile troops operating beyond normal mess support. Early production used plain brown packaging; by mid-1944 the Quartermaster Corps introduced the graphic Morale Series seen here, assigning brown to Breakfast, olive drab to Supper, and this deep blue swirl to Dinner. As wartime demand drew resources from multiple industries, food and beverage firms such as Hiram Walker were enlisted to assemble rations at scale, and supply substitutions saw non-mint gum flavors and alternate powdered drink mixes – such as the grape beverage found here – rotated in alongside the standard canned entree. The printed instructions on the sleeve, directing the soldier to save the inner waterproof bag for matches and cigarettes and to conceal the empty can and wrappers
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