Civil War era ration cans ? & Strange 'heavy' Zinc or lead ball on wire.

[Davers]

Any info will help Thanks ..T-Net.

Oh also need info on the Key looking piece.

Thanks Again.
Davers

 

[nhbenz]

The key looking piece is a can opener, of the type for sardine and canned ham, and yes even spam, as described in this recent thread: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/557296-pistol-cleaning-rod.html
Yours has a coil of the strip that comes off of the can when opened around it.

The ball with wire thing may be the clapper from a bell?

 

[sutphin]

NICE FINDS

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

At the time of the civil war, what we now called "canned goods" (vegetables, fruit, etc) were made by soldering tin-plated sheetiron together to form a cylinder, with a solid sheetiron disc on one end, and a washer-shaped disc as the top lid. The can was sealed by soldering a smaller sheetiron disc onto the can's open-at-the-center top lid. See the photo below. That SEEMS to be what we see in your photo... due to the rust-encrustation, it's difficult for me to feel very certain. However, that method continued in use for more than just a few years after the end of the civil war. There's no way to know whether your can parts are from the war years or sometime later.

 

[Davers]

The key looking piece is a can opener, of the type for sardine and canned ham, and yes even spam, as described in this recent thread: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/557296-pistol-cleaning-rod.html
Yours has a coil of the strip that comes off of the can when opened around it.

The ball with wire thing may be the clapper from a bell?

Got ya, I can see that now, & recall seeing these 'key's' before.

I was thinking "bell" piece on the 'Ball' item as well.

Thanks for your help.
Davers

 

[Davers]

At the time of the civil war, what we now called "canned goods" (vegetables, fruit, etc) were made by soldering tin-plated sheetiron together to form a cylinder, with a solid sheetiron disc on one end, and a washer-shaped disc as the top lid. The can was sealed by soldering a smaller sheetiron disc onto the can's open-at-the-center top lid. See the photo below. That SEEMS to be what we see in your photo... due to the rust-encrustation, it's difficult for me to feel very certain. However, that method continued in use for more than just a few years after the end of the civil war. There's no way to know whether your can parts are from the war years or sometime later.

Yr right THCG.
It's a Tuff call especially "Time period used" ..
I'm pretty sure I recycled some can pieces in the past, so I had to ask.

Mr, Charlie H. has a video with some ration can tops , Ill look at that again.

This site has many years of relics on in from Civil War , - early 1900's, with scattered modern trash.
Thanks for your opinion.