Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

[Pvt.S.D.Swart]

I have been told that sometimes these items were painted 9on the outside). Makes sense to me, since it would help with rust. I would use enamels, much like they had in that time. Should I, or just leave it as is?

Shawn D. Swart
6th Ky Co. C CSA / 13th Ky Co. D USA

[J.H.Berger]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Shawn,
Get a period correct hot dipped drum canteen and this would not be necessary. I have always wonderd why the community is so little interested in hot dipped tinware and is still willing to monkey aroudn with beeswax lining etc. Is it just because of the higher price? this should not be the case.......

[Pvt.S.D.Swart]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Thank you Jan, but I have one of those. But, in this case I was given a box load of items from back in the day. One of them as a old tin drum canteen. I cleaned it out. (had only some very light rust), sterlised it, and relined it with beeswax.) I thought painting it would be a nice touch since it is a very tarnished and dark tin presently.

So my quesion still stands, would it be authenic to paint said canteen?

Shawn D. Swart
6th Ky Co. C CSA / 13th Ky Co. D USA

[Silas]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

How many tin drum canteens have you seen in person, on line or in books which were painted verses not painted?

As far as relining canteens with bees wax goes, it has been discussed here several times. Not favorably, I might add.

[David Fox]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Might be interesting cloth-covering it. That's rarely seen today.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Toss in the fire and make a bowl and cornmeal sifter out of it.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

David is correct, reproduction tin drum canteens with covers are hardly seen among reenactors and living historians. Below are five examples; three are covered with wool/cotton satinette and two are covered with what could be compared to a rough all-wool blanket material. Additionally, three have similar straps made from colored herringbone webbing while one has a wool-covered hemp cord and another has a black leather strap. Three are known to have been used by ANV soldiers, a fourth is suspected as being carried by a soldier wounded/captured in Virginia around March 1865, and a fifth's origins/usage is not known. A sixth example can be found at Jim Mayo's website linked below that is covered with blanket material and has a strap very similar to others; this last example was picked up at Gettysburg.

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/cscanteen.html

A while back I covered my own tin drum and used a decorative strapping similar to the originals; the cover is a scrap piece of our reproduction CS blanket which compares very nicely to the originals. I need to get rid of that stopper though, it's an early Federal variation.

[Pvt.S.D.Swart]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Thank you David. You too Brian!! That is a great idea. Looks like I have another project for this winter along with those drawers and shirt you sent me.


Shawn D. Swart
6th Ky Co. C CSA / 13th Ky Co. D USA

[Regimental Colours]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Pictured on page 24 of Gary Hendershott's current catalogue is a CS tin canteen with cloth cover and 3rd Arkansas markings.

http://garyhendershott.net/

[Regimental Colours]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

I just posted this photograph of James B. Warren of the 16th Louisiana on another thread and noticed he might be wearing a cloth covered tin canteen

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Two more examples linked below, both from the James D. Julia website.

http://jamesdjulia.com/auctions/catalog_detail_shots.asp?Details=31414&sale=222

http://jamesdjulia.com/auctions/catalog_detail_shots.asp?Details=54463&sale=174

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

This source ("Warman's Civil War Collectibles") describes a Confederate tin drum canteen originally painted black: http://books.google.com/books?id=DeD...20+tin&f=false

[KentG]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

Mike O'Donnell's "US Army and Militia canteens 1775-1910" has painted tin drum examples (mostly identified as pre-war militia usage) on pages 68, 69 (2 examples), 70, 71 (2 examples), and 76. Page 72 has the original that seems to be the model for the mass produced tin drums of today - so they are not entirely wrong. Seems like a bit of research, paint or cloth, and some effort could transform a not good example into a decent re-creation for little cost.

[GenuineInformation]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

I recently found this thread and it inspired me to cover my canteen. I did not have any material that matched the canteen covers in the pictures posted in this thread, but I did have some old FHW sheep's gray on tan jeans that I thought would work.

[Paul L Muller]

Re: Should I paint my tin drum canteen?

This is a very timely post as to paint or not to paint a drum canteen. I just bought one from a fellow AC member, and wanted to cover it but was not sure if that was right or not. Now, thanks to the wonderful photos posted...I am covering it like I had originaly thought. Thanks to all who posted on this thread. plm