Museum Notes
March - April, 1979
Grand Junction, Colorado

The Illustrated Mess Kit
Wayne Randolph

"Serious museum curators are usually avid note takers and fantastical record keepers. After all, how much can we learn from an artifact whose background story has been lost?

While surveying the largely undocumented History collection, I recently discovered one of those rare artifacts which tells its own story unaided. As I lifted the light package to read its registration number, it immediately became apparent that this was a unique example of war memorabilia.

As countless soldiers before have expressed their feelings in wood, bone and horn, so George G. McLean carved his thoughts in soft aluminum in 1918. From his straightforward statements we learn much about McLean and his WW1 experience. His mess kit reports loud and clear.

Exactly when McLean engraved the lid (inverted plate) of his mess kit is not clear, but from the extent of carving and nature of the inscription, it is possible that they may have been made shortly after the Armistice, and perhaps during his homeward bound cruise. 

Conspicuously etched in the center of the composition are two emblems which represent organizations to which McLean belonged, and which he probably regarded highly. He may have used his membership cards or pins as models to help duplicate the somewhat complex insignia of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elk, Lodge 507 and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Local 464. It is quite possible that there vertically placed symbols with the first to be carved. 

Equally prominent are the outstretched American and French flags which diagonally flank the elk head. On opposite sides of the rounded lid above the flags McLean signed his name, 'G. G. McLean,' and hometown, 'DURANGO, Colo'  within mismatched and crudely executed scrolls. Between these scrolls and the flags additional wording was placed, which when combined may have read, 'G.G McLean [of] DURANGO, Colo WITH THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES [in] FRANCE."

Following the curvature of the top edge, McLean revealed the reason for his obvious enthusiasm. "LAST SHOT FIRED NOV 11 - 11 AM - 1918," below which he entitled, "WORLDS WAR 19 - 18." Separating the year 1918, and fitted neatly between the elk's upcurved antlers, is the Lodge's 'hour for remembrance for fallen brethren' clock, providing coincidental unity.

Below the elk, and on either side of the central B.R.T emblem which its classic perched eagle, McLean continued his balanced symetrical composition by placing two more awkward scrolls. Within these he states, 'HOBOKEN, N.J. JUNE 5-1918' and 'ST NAZAIRE FRANCE JUN 19,' obvious reference to his ocean voyage to Euro0pe at war's end.

Additionally smaller iconography fills the outer edges of the plate. Two British biplanes, the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Bell, what appears to be an oddly shaped shaped observation balloon, and an unidentified sign seems to be included as space fillers. 

Completing the documentation at the bottom, and again complementing the lower rim curve, is the name of McLean's unit in script, ''31st Regiment, Transportation Corp U.S. Army,' to which he adds, 'Chemin De Fer De L'ETAT' (the state railroad). 

McLean's words and images reveal an unmistakable sense of excitement, vitality, and symbolic cultural identity that was no doubt shared by many, but carved by few. In choosing to express that which felt significant, with materials at hand and untrained skill, McLean's mess cover engraving effectively communicates the essense of American folk art."