Collins Machete CCC Civilian Conservation Corps
I spotted this last week at an antique shop I stop in periodically for military things. While this isn't strictly military, it is connected. The CCC was one of Roosevelts pet projects to keep the United States in the Great Depression. Not that it was the intent but it does seem to be the general result of his policies. We stayed in it longer than most of the world. In any case, it was a shovels ready way to fix up the country and employ thousands of unemployed young men. It ran from 1933 to 1942 and was ended by WWII. Maximum number at any given time was 300,000 but a total of 3 million men participated through the life of the program. Pay was $30 a month and $25 of that had to be sent home to their families.
For the most part, the work performed was very beneficial. They planted trees, built roads, bridges, etc in the state parks, national parks, etc and a lot of this can be seen today almost 100 years later. The men ranged in age from 17 to 28 and were supposed to be unemployed and single.
How this connects to the military is that the US Army was responsible for the camps. They ran them. The CCC boys were given physicals and served for a six month period. They could serve for a maximum of two years. Douglas MacArthur for a time was the head of the program. CCC personnel upon enlistment into the military were automatically promoted to corporal or sergeant at the start of WWII.
How this connects to me is me Grandfather was in the CCC. I don't know for how long or where other than it was in my home state of Pennsylvania. He also lied to get into it. He was married at the time. In the later stages of the program, veterans were eligible and they were allowed to be married but others were not and he was not a veteran. He had a new wife, no job due to the depression and this was available. Unfortunately he passed away before I was old enough to really care about this sort of thing so I don't recall ever talking with him about it and all I know has been passed down by my aunts and uncles.
So I saw this, was very interested but the price was substantial, $125 which seems high for a machete to me so I left it sit. This weekend was their semi annual extravaganza sale and it was 15% off and it was really bugging me that I had this opportunity and was letting it go by. I don't have much from my grandfather other than memories and a few trinkets like the hat he always wore and a carbide lamp he wore in the mines so the connection was enough, besides, it's only money and inflation is going to zip it away pretty quickly with all this pandemic spending.
The blade looks bad in the photos but it's just staining. Very little pitting on it. Handle has some cracks but seem solid and is all there. This thing is also huge. Largest machete I own. Collins made.
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