I seem to recall my father used Sterno cans while out on maneuvers in  
France and Germany during World War 2. You could heat one of those things in a  
fox hole and boil a cup of coffee in your canteen cup without drawing enemy  
fire. It also helped against the cold in what became known as the Battle of 
the  Bulge, where he received a wound.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
 
 
In a message dated 8/7/2009 1:25:08 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Ashley,

Jim Rock of the Forest Service put together a series of  commentaries 
regarding tin cans.  He noted that the sterno can  appeared in c. 1916.  It 
was manufactured by the drawn process - a  piece of sheet metal was punched 
into shape providing the base and the  sides, with a top end added after 
the 
contents.  I don't have my copy  of this version here at the office, but I 
can check at home and give you  his source(s) for it later.  Here's the 
citation I use,

Rock,  James T.
1989 Tin Canisters, Their Identification.  Rev. ed.  Ms.  on file, USDA 
Forest Service, Klamath National Forest, Yreka,  California.

He wrote two versions that year, hence the "Rev.  ed."

Hope this helps you,

Niki Kimball
----- Original Message  ----- 
From: "Ashley Morton" <[log in to unmask]>
To:  <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 12:12 PM
Subject:  Re: Sterno cans


> Thanks for the responses. I'm looking for a  published citation. 
> Particularly
> a date. I know Wiki's sterno  page and have followed their resources with 
> no
> luck. If  anyone knows of a published work regarding sterno cans it'd be 
>  much
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks again,
> Ashley