The Chow Line

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The Chow Line The ChowLine specializes in museum exhibit quality replicas of American Military rations produced between 1900 and 1980. Welcome to the Chow Line!

I also specialize in display replicas built as cutaways or as clear replicas that show the rations edible contents. I offer detailed and accurate reproductions of military rations carried by American soldiers in combat from 1900 through the late 1970s. I take great pride in my work and strive to meet the exacting standards of display that many prominent museums hold when considering the use of rep

lica material in the exhibits and educational programs. All of my replicas are made in small batches by hand to ensure a high quality reproduction able to be put on display next to original artifacts whether that be at a reenactment, in a personal collection, or in a museum exhibit. Many items I make are specialty items at a customers request. I specialize in replicating rare rations needed to fill gaps in a collection, or meant to perform a specific role in a museums display. I do not maintain a stock of items, small batches of replicas are made then sold and re-stock of that item is not certain. ChowLine Credentials:

I have been a part of the military reenactment community since the age of fifteen, and have a particular interest in United States Marine Corps history where I specialize in combat history and equipment development with a collection of militaria to reflect this. The ChowLine was born out of this love for Marine Corps history, my passion for reenacting, a deep interest in food culture, food history, and military subsistence technologies, and some twenty years experience as a scale model builder. However my interest in reenacting eventually lead to academia where I now use my formal training in the field of history to advance what I make for the ChowLine especially where researching primary source material is concerned. I am an academic American historian by trade specializing in museum exhibits and curation and military subsistence technology as well as the progressive era, labor radicalism, Americanization, WWI humanitarianism, and the 1918 Flu Pandemic. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors in history and minor in anthropology and also hold a Masters in American history with a focus in museum studies, exhibits, and curation from Northern Illinois University in addition to an Associates Degree in Science from Kishwaukee Community College. I have over 400 hours of museum internship work with such institutions as the Glidden Foundation, United States Quartermaster Museum, and Army Air Artillery Training School Museum. For them I provided a range of services from replica ration components to designing and building small exhibit spaces. I have also conducted exhibit work and offered exhibit consultation separate from internship work to Midway Village Museum and the Grand Army of the Republic Museum. I have provided many more museums across the country with replica military rations over the years and even had my worked used on the television series "This is Us." The ChowLine is a holistic culmination of my academic training in history, my deep interested in the field of exhibits and curation, my love for food history, the Marine Corps, military reenacting, and scale model building.

05/04/2025

Marines moving through the Chow Line getting their issued reserve rations of hard bread, pork and beans, fig newtons and a trench candle to heat their pork and beans with.

WWI event at Newville PA.

Out at the Newville WWI event reenacting as a Marine and issuing unit level reserve rations. Issued rations to about 30 ...
05/04/2025

Out at the Newville WWI event reenacting as a Marine and issuing unit level reserve rations. Issued rations to about 30 men this rainy morning. Hu**ed the rations down to the front in bread bags and had them men move through and grab them from piles.

Today's rations was one box hard bread, one Tin pork and beans, one box fig newtons, and a candle to heat to pork and beans with.

Getting ready to cook for 20 men at the April WWI Newville event and I'm trying out some new recipes. Nothing too fancy ...
09/03/2025

Getting ready to cook for 20 men at the April WWI Newville event and I'm trying out some new recipes. Nothing too fancy here, just some Salisbury Steak with brown gravy. It's a mix between a WWII Navy recipe and one I found from 1918. The biggest difference is that one calls for bread crumbs (WWII), and the other does not. It's far better with bread crumbs.

I ate it with Chicory Rum coffee, a drink given to Marines in WWI written about in a memoir excerpt a buddy in my unit sent to me.

Here is the recipe with adjustments I made for flavor and quantity so it's suitable for use with 1 Pound of ground beef. This serves 4 people.

Salisbury Steak:
1lb ground beef
3/4 cup bread crumbs (unseasoned)
A splash over 1/4 cup beef stock
1/4 teaspoon salt
(You can add onion, I'd say 1/2 large chopped)

Brown Gravy:
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons lard
12oz beef stock
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

How to cook:

Hand mix ingredients in a bowl, and break into 4 1/4lb patties. Bring a skillet up to medium heat and toss in a heaping spoonful of lard. Once heated place Salisbury steak patties in and cook as you would a hamburger pattie.

For the gravey, combine ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a strong simmer, stirring until thickened and turn down to keep warm.

Serve and enjoy!!

New blog post is published Titled "Rusty Cans and Blurry Photos." Comment your thoughts below.Check it out here: https:/...
21/02/2025

New blog post is published Titled "Rusty Cans and Blurry Photos." Comment your thoughts below.

Check it out here: https://www.chowlinereproductions.com/in-the-kitchen-blog

From the Kitchen:

"As I sit here tonight working on one of my most difficult projects yet (something in far worse shape than the FPIA Meat Unit pictured), I find myself again lamenting the way that time fades and obscures what came before. I am a historian, my masters is in American history, and I work with museums. The affects of time on tangible and intangible history constitutes the focus of a historians field, from which we branch out and reassemble the past like collecting pieces to a puzzle with no defined edge, no picture of how it should look, or any idea of how many pieces there should be."

New blog post is up on my website, go check it out.https://www.chowlinereproductions.com/in-the-kitchen-blogAlso, what k...
20/02/2025

New blog post is up on my website, go check it out.

https://www.chowlinereproductions.com/in-the-kitchen-blog

Also, what kind of stuff would you like to see me talk about on my blog? I there a specific ration you want me to research and provide the cliff note history on? Maybe there is an opinion you have on reenacting and food you want me to explore? Comment below or send an email to [email protected]. Lets make this a space to explore the hobby.

IN THE KITCHEN, A CHOWLINE BLOG IN THE KITCHEN, A CHOWLINE BLOG Welome to the ChowLine Reproductions blog, where the workshop is my kitchen, and the archives is my cookbook. Join me as I comb through records, photographs, and memoirs looking for inspiration for my next project. Come along as I scour...

A well equipped army first marches through the Chow Line.I've been attending the Newville WWI event in Pennsylvania sinc...
20/02/2025

A well equipped army first marches through the Chow Line.

I've been attending the Newville WWI event in Pennsylvania since 2015. I fall in with the Marines of the 78th as their CPL. A fantastic group of guys, many of whom are active duty or retired Marines, and several are members of the US Marine Corps Historical Company, which in tern is run by a damn fine group of guys.

This past year, and into the future, I've been tasked with issuing our entire unit of 15 men their haversack rations. I also take care of breakfast, and we decide what dinner Friday/Saturday will be, based on what Marines who fought in WWI actually ate as recorded in their memoirs. One night it was fried chicken and French fries cooked in fry oil near the front lines, delicious.

Issuing rations can be such an immersive activity, especially when you march through the Chow line with a mess kit full of sausage, eggs, and bacon, while hastily being handed hard bread and tinned beef to stuff into a haversack. Eating accurate, custom made period correct rations while being interrupted by gas, mortars, or 200 Germans going over the top, is all together another experience entirely.

This particular meal is based on photographs of soldiers being issued Roast beef and hard bread in the fall of 1918.

A Hike in the Woods!In addition to military reenacting, I also like to go camping in the Bannerman style. 1920s camping/...
18/02/2025

A Hike in the Woods!

In addition to military reenacting, I also like to go camping in the Bannerman style. 1920s camping/hiking is a great way to reenact the early 20th century without needing to attend a military reenactment. I recently was out for a hike surveying 20 acres of woodland for restoration as part of my day job as a Restoration Ecologist and decided to bring some of my reproduction rations with to have lunch 1920s style.

Lunch was a surplus tin of WWI roast beef eaten cold with a box of hard bread all washed down with water from my trusty canteen.

More developments for the Chow Line!Work on the website has begun again in earnest. Along with the development of a shop...
16/02/2025

More developments for the Chow Line!

Work on the website has begun again in earnest. Along with the development of a shop and gallery section, the site will also feature a blog post which can be found here:

https://www.chowlinereproductions.com/in-the-kitchen-blog

Going into the rest of the year I will be posting weekly blogs. The page and blog page will compliment each other and serve as places for me to interact with the community and share developments on various projects. There will also be the production of youtube shorts demonstrating the use of rations in the field as I traverse state parks and go on "wild camping" trips in both period civilian and military kits.

Additionally, the summer of 2025 will see a major launch of what will be a premium reproduction ration line going above and beyond what I have made before or what others currently offer. From WWI-Vietnam, my shelves are full of prototypes I have been working hard to develop. Now with the help of several different American manufacturers I can realize my visions, and this year will see the culmination of several years of research and development.

More details to come.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!🥳🍾2024 has come and gone, I can't believe that it's 2025 already. There is A LOT that happened behind th...
05/01/2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!🥳🍾

2024 has come and gone, I can't believe that it's 2025 already. There is A LOT that happened behind the scenes this past year, and all of it was great. Lots of time was spent prototyping rations from across the 20th century, refining designs, getting patterns sent off to local manufacturers, and investments being made in tools/ machines for my home shop! This is going to be quite the year, with regular posts/ project announcements planned well into the Summer at this point as the Chow Line kicks back off and begins making available again the highest quality replicas of the widest range of American military rations this side of the Atlantic!

To kick things off here is a fantastic link to a 1943 published book on war time packaging/ materials. A member of a WWII projects Facebook group I belong to posted this link, so the credit of finding this goes to them. It's a fascinating read which covers fiberboard, cardboard, plastics, cellophane, foil packets, and lots more. Quite a few ration related pages in this, which makes for even more engaging read adding to it's research potential.

Follow Link Here:
https://archive.org/details/sim_modern-packaging_1943-06_16_10

The pieces to some projects a very long time in the making are finally falling into place. I have several manufacturers ...
13/06/2024

The pieces to some projects a very long time in the making are finally falling into place. I have several manufacturers both local and across the United States who have completed prototypes of components to these projects, and more importantly are capable of producing these for me in large quantities. Though the final projects are still a few weeks to a couple months out from completion, I will be posting them one by one as they are made available.

Suffice to say I am genuinely excited, so stay tuned.

$400!!!! Well, I had no idea people were willing to pay so much money for a reproduction.😁Someone is about to learn an e...
14/03/2024

$400!!!!

Well, I had no idea people were willing to pay so much money for a reproduction.😁

Someone is about to learn an expensive lesson here, but this is a reproduction made by Rob Lahini (spelling?) in the early 2000s and used in movies/ TV series such as "The Pacific" and found in many museums. A fantastic reproduction, and something that provided an inspiration for the work I do, but certainly not an original. All of his were marked Arcadia Baking Co (a fictitious mfg of his own creation) and most (not all) did not feature the score lines or tab for the key opening feature like an original would.

Guess I need to begin selling mine for more, heck, I'll cut them a deal, two repro M units for $400 😂

Single can as shown. Has wear and minor flaws as shown. Marked by Arcadia Baking co. with 1942 canning date. See photos.

Here's a fun one for you all, right out of the collection.1952 Coleman 252 Lantern stenciled for "Mess" use.I don't only...
02/03/2024

Here's a fun one for you all, right out of the collection.

1952 Coleman 252 Lantern stenciled for "Mess" use.

I don't only collect rations, I also collect military gas stoves, lanterns ,and civilian camp stoves. Pictured is my 1952 dated Coleman 252 lantern, paired with a 1952 dated M1950 stove, and 1952 dated Ration Individual Combat 24 hour ration box and a 1952 dated RIC M Unit sitting on top the stove. The gas can is the third and final pattern of 1 quart fuel can issues with these lanterns. It is not dated, but based on paint is likely from the mid to late 50s. This lantern is marked for "mess" use, which is really why I nabbed it as it has a great spot in my Korean War ration collection. The pump is seized up, as is the adjustment k**b. I intend to restore this to operational condition.

Korean Cardboard Collection!Alright, this certainly is not all of my Korean War era cardboard, but this is some of my mo...
28/02/2024

Korean Cardboard Collection!

Alright, this certainly is not all of my Korean War era cardboard, but this is some of my more favorite pieces. As many of you have seen I have made reproductions of many of these rations in the past complete with filled accessory packets, cans, and spoons. I have been working on building my pattern collection, and a lot of research has gone into this era of ration. I enjoy finding different patterns of items, which resulted from different manufactures interpretation of government specs. It turns out to be my favorite, mostly because of all the bits and bobs included in the FPIA and RIC/RCIs.

At some point I'll take a group pics of all the canned items, accessory packets, fuel tablets, etc, but that requires a few more totes and boxes be hauled out of storage, so maybe another day. Till then, enjoy these pics.

PS, my favorite box is the 1949 dated C-3 master case, and the square RICs, took years to find them. Oh, and the 1953 dated pocket stove box is fun as well.

Good Morning!!!I have certainly not been keeping up with posting these past couple months, but I want to say thank you t...
28/02/2024

Good Morning!!!

I have certainly not been keeping up with posting these past couple months, but I want to say thank you to everyone who spots these FB bots that come in to clutter up my page. We had about 4-5 this morning bombard various posts, and when people spotted them, they tagged me so I could remove them, I sincerely appreciate your help and those spam bot profiles are all now banned from the page.

Now, onto some fun business, I am getting ready to do a small run of some WWI items, some old, some new, and will be posting those around mid April, so keep an eye out. Till then, here are a few pictures of some new original items added to the collection, that will be used as patterns for reproductions. The square RIC box is particularly fantastic because it is the first dated example I have ever seen, and this one is dated 1952 which answers a burning question as to when this square packaging was actually produced.

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Our Story

Welcome to the Chow Line! What is the Chow Line? The Chowline is a product of my love for American history, fascination with military food, passion for building scale replicas, and above all else desire to educate people. I am an academically trained historian currently working on my Masters in American history and going for a Doctorate in early 20th century America. The skill set I have developed in academia has granted me the ability to conduct deep intensive research used in the creation of Chow Line replicas. Providing the primary source material to back up the creation of my reproductions is an absolute necessity when attempting to create accurate reproductions. I also have a great deal of experience building scale replicas, having been employed by plastic model company Revell Monogram. This directly translates into the finishing/ construction of my replicas allowing the creation of many different types of rations in a multitude of mediums like metal, plastic, paper, fiberboard etc. What does the Chow Line Make? In short, I make replicas of American military rations (and some personal items), but rather than concentrating on a single era in American military history I offer high quality replica rations spanning from 1916 to 1980. Other companies may offer similar products, I however concentrate on detail whereas they concentrate on quantity sacrificing accuracy and quality in the process. Much of what I offer is directly reproduced from original examples in my collection, or built from well documented digital examples. All of my replicas are made in small batches by hand to ensure a high quality reproduction you are able to display with original equipment. In addition to providing reenactors and collectors with reproductions, much of what I make is utilized by museums and custom made to suit the needs of a specific curators exhibit. In addition to replicating common place military rations, I also specialize in creating custom display models of rations such as cutaways used for educational purposes, or aged replicas designed to be displayed with original military equipment. I also replicate rare military ration/ personal items to fill gaps in either public or individual collections. In some cases these reproductions are also used to replace fragile irreplaceable original examples that are no longer able to be displayed without suffering damage. How do I order, can I buy large quantities of something? I work full time and attend Graduate School full time, meaning that the Chow Line is operated as a small side business. It is an extension of my love for the hobby of reenacting and an offshoot of my formal collegiate education meaning that I do not maintain a stock of any items. Small batches of replicas are made when I have the time, then sold on this page until the stock is depleted, then I move on to another project. As such I am unable to provide large quantities of most items, but for a handful of exceptions. - Orders can be placed by messaging the page, at which point an invoice will be sent to you and payment can be made via paypal as “payment for goods and services ” NEVER as friends and family. Museum Exhibits: I take special request orders for museum exhibits. Simply message this page if you are looking for items to use in an exhibit. Include the name and address of your museum, the exhibits scheduled opening date/ date you need the items by, and what reproductions you need. I will work hard to meet your exhibits needs, and can provide exhibit consultation in addition to standard or special reproductions.