Unboxing RARE 1955 Korean War RCI - Ration Combat Individual

So excited to have acquired two original RCIs, this nearly complete one included three B units, three M units, sealed accessory pack, sealed cigarette pack, fruit cake, two spoons. Only was missing one spoon and p38 can opener which are easy to replace. Let’s unbox and check out all the contents. Posted detailed photos on our Facebook page - Hero Rations

[@yepiratesworkshop7997]

I grew up eating those things. (Father in the army) And they were still feeding us C-rats from the 1950's when I put on my combat boots in 1975. I cried when they came out with the inedible MRE-garbage. It was like getting kicked in the balls every time I wanted to eat something in the field. Of the "C-Rats," one of my favorites was "Ham and Eggs." (a B-1 Unit if memory serves.) Also good was the "Beef and Potatos," "Pork," etc. The 'hard tack' crackers were especially good with the little 3/4-inch high can of fruit jelly. They had a similar can of "Cheese Spread" -- that stuff tasted like sh*t, but if you were hungry you ate it. There were a couple of different chocolate bars: one was a big, fat thing stuffed in a can. The other were two foil wrapped, thin things that I thought were really good despite the 'odd' taste to someone who was used to eating Hershey bars. The little thin foil-wrapped bars (rounds, actually) were still being produced at Wilbur Chocolates in Lancaster, Pa. and I used to go to their factory store and buy a box every now and then. The "Beans in Tomato Sauce" was stinky and sh*tty even back when that stuff was fresh. I seem to remember there may also have been a "Chicken a la King," too. I liked the beef and pork because it was packed with some fat chunks in it and fat is a body fuel when you're living in the field. In addition, there was a "Pack" that had gum -- (two chicklets in a little cardboard box) an instant coffee pack, a sugar pack and a fake coffee cream powder packet and a little pack of toilet paper -- which EVERYONE saved!!! There were also a teeny-tiny cigarette pack -- all marked with different logos and brands -- that each held 4 cigarettes. And, of course, there was the O.D. green book of matches. There was a rather sturdy plastic (reminded me of nylon) knife, fork and spoon in those packs as well. To open the cans, you could either use your bayonet, or -- if you bought one -- a Camillus pocket-knife with can opener (if you'd bought one) or the famous "P-38" folding can opener. Four P-38's were thrown into the top of each case of C-Rations. Eventually, everybody had a couple of their own. There was also a "Drink Packet" in some of the meal boxes. This was meant to be mixed with water in your canteen cup and made a sweetened fruit-flavored drink of some kind. Damn! Those were the days. If so many of you kids hadn't missed them by being born too late or having parents who weren't WW-II or Korean War or even Vietnam War vets and told you how we'd overcome adversities, things would be going a lot better for us all these days. Also, the box you have doesn't look 'right' to me. The cases we had were made of a heavy pressed cardboard with some amount of waterproofing and other stuff on it. They were wired shut with a wire around the long side and a wire around the fat side. Once that wire was off, there was a pressed cardboard "sleeve" you had to pull off to get to the inner box and open it's four flaps to get to the C-Rations.

[@tobyhorn9641]

We ate them when I was a kid in the 80s my Papa (grandpa)was in Korea during the war he always said that was the closest he ever came to starving to death also my granny was giving credit for keeping his plotune alive he was also a scrounger for his plotoon

[@donl1410]

Interesting. I'm glad to see you are trying to conserve the packaging. The video would be more appealing if shot in landscape format. Thanks for posting.

[@Herorations]

We setup a new tripod today with a GoPro for future videos

[@benrasmussen531]

Is it safe to eat food from 1950 during war period

[@donl1410]

👍@@Herorations

[@smugly6793]

@@benrasmussen531Probably not perfectly safe, but reasonably. If you avoid bulging cans and anything that looks/smells weird, you’ll *probably* be okay
You can find people eating WWII rations and older without too much ill effect

[@Herorations]

@@benrasmussen531I open and empty some of the contents of a 1951 B unit in an upcoming video. Contents were generally spoiled. The coffee was gross but drinkable.