Designed to be functional but compact, a mess kit was an essential part of every soldier’s life. Millions of mess kits were made during the war by workers in both Canada, Britain, and the US. Mess kits were primarily used for receiving and eating food. When it was time to eat in a military camp or base, soldiers would line up, open up their mess kits, and file through a mess tent or mess hall where food would be spooned into their mess kit.
The mess kit seen here is a common example of those manufactured in the United States during World War I. In the field and in combat situations, soldiers were given packages of food rations. These rations required little preparation and could be easily prepared in the kit, which contains a set of cutlery, and can be converted into a portable sauce pan, allowing soldiers to quickly heat food over fire. A typical ration for soldiers in World War I consisted of 12 ounces of fresh bacon or canned meat, two 8-ounce cans of hard bread or hardtack biscuits, a packet of coffee, a packet of sugar, and a packet of salt. Soldiers were often also provided with tobacco.