Yard Sales, Flea Markets and Antique Shops 2023

Two small items today, a 1943 German 10 Pfenning coin and a US 1945 MASSILON AL. CO mess kit, one I hadn't had. A third item can be loosely connected in that it is a commemorative souvenir to the cornerstone laying of the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. I didn't go out early and wishing I did because where I got the coin and Bunker Hill item, they had a table full of little things for a dollar or two each. Hard to tell what they sold before I got there but I rarely find someone selling antiques for low prices like that.

Also got a pair of digital camo combat pants that should fit me for $1. Something from yard sales, flea markets and antique shops today. Mess kit at the antique shop was the most expensive at $6.

$6.00! How can you afford to put gas in the truck shelling out that kind of cash?

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

I didn't go out early and wishing I did because where I got the coin and Bunker Hill item, they had a table full of little things for a dollar or two each. Hard to tell what they sold before I got there

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But if you had got there earlier you might have seen someone else buying up all the things that you would like just in front of you. It's really annoying when that happens.

That's the pessimists view LOL, I have the optimists view of getting all the good stuff first. It has happened, it is annoying but it's incentive to go earlier.

Alas, my season seems to be drawing to a close. I did get a few things cheap at the antique flea market Sunday. Nothing super exciting but there is promise of more next Sunday as the guy said he would bring more. I picked up a US 1944 pick that was covered in concrete. I wire wheeled it, didn't like doing it but couldn't figure any other way to get the concrete off. I then spray painted it. The handle is marked but faint. US and PLUMB I believe, the pick head I couldn't quite make out. DIAMMOND something, possibly CALK. Two complete canteens, one cover looks like 1951, they both have 1956 Volrath cups, both canteens are from 1945 and duplicates to what I already have. The last item is a small pouch marked US 1945. All pretty common items but I basically named my price, $32 for all of it. Yard Sales are becoming few and far between and one of my regular antique flea markets closed for the season.

I found a unit marked WWI canteen cover at an antique shop Friday. It's dirty and has some paint on it that I'm hoping I can get off before taking some pics. Came with a web belt but it is also dirty and I see no markings on it. Need to get some dish soap and wash both by hand.

Canteen cleaned up pretty nice. It had been covered in grease and paint. I did nothing special to get rid of the paint but the soap and water seems to have removed most of it. I did have an extra WWI canteen I put in it but no cup yet.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../KeuXAEA-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../AN60X7Y-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../Hkv803y-1.jpg

And Today I picked up this 4.7 inch shell. Never encountered one of them before. I believe it was a US designed gun developed in 1904-1906 that the US adopted in 1906 and then only used in limited numbers in WWI because European shells and guns were already there and easier to supply. They remained in stock until 1932. I located a surviving gun in Saxton, PA which is close enough to my hometown I will have to go find it when I see my parents next.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../l2UjP4c-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../kGGIHOQ-1.jpg

Found a photo of the gun online. They restored it four years ago so it's in pretty good shape. New wheels made for it out of treated oak near where I live now. Small world.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../jnI3DWF-1.jpg

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

no cup yet.

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Is it just the date that is stamped on it that differentiates a WW1 cup from a WW2 example?

Nice casing, finding the projectile could be a task...

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

Is it just the date that is stamped on it that differentiates a WW1 cup from a WW2 example?

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Yes, WWI and WWII cups are the same. Very early ones have no date. 1918 is when I believe they started dating them, the canteens anyway, not sure about the cups. They didn't change until the 1960's sometime when the folding handle went to a pair of wire handles. WWI cups were still being used in WWII and they didn't make them every year. More in an as needed basis.

I have WWI cups but they are already with matching canteens an covers.