WWII USMC Snake Bite Kit ("M.S.A.") for JUNGLE 1st AID KIT. Mint NOS Unissued

Description

WWII USMC SCARCE!! "Snake Bite Kit" M.S.A.
(
for JUNGLE 1st AID KIT
) and M1942 First Aid Pouch “INDEPENDENT AWNINGS 1945”
Mint NOS Unissued!
1
"SNAKE BITE KIT, M-S-A, in Black 2-piece "Bakelite" Case, MINE SAFETY APPLIANCES CO., Pittsburgh, Penn,"
with Intact
INSTRUCTIONAL LABEL
, with Complete Contents:
--- 1  Black Plastic  PUMP (Syringe).
--- 2  Clear Plastic SUCTION CUPS (End pieces),
--- 1 LANCET (Scalpel) with Cap.
--- 1 Vial of GREASE.
--- 1 Cotton TOURNIQUET.
--- 2 M-S-A  "Visual" IODINE SWABS.
--- 2
M-S-A  AMMONIA Inhalants.
--- 2
M-S-A  ADHESIVE BANDAGES.
*****
- 1 Canvas "
M1942 First-Aid Packet Carrier, OD#7 (
"INDEPENDENT AWNINGS 1945"
)
, with "
Transitional
" contrasting
OD#3
Thread stitching. Well marked with the "
U.S
." cypher and the manufacturers' name and year of manufacture.
-
ZERO
stains (from leaking contents, etc.), fraying, fading, rubs, abrasions "highlights," loose stitching, or personalized markings!!
- "
INDEPENDENT AWNINGS"
was one among of the many suppliers of canvas medical supplies to the Army and the
U.S. Marine Corps
.
-
PERFECT
Finish on the Blackened
M1910 Belt Hook.
*****
from the WW2 Medical Research Center,
"...
the
M-2
version of the
Jungle Kit
replaced the
M-1 type
which was found to be rather unpractical, mostly out of reach, and too large. The present Kit was introduced in
1944,
and proved an immediate success with the troops (both Army and Marines would use it); the Case hooked into the eyelets of either the Pistol or Cartridge Belts, was within easy reach of the wearer, and could be opened or closed by two press studs;
contents were sometimes modified by the owner, depending on his personal taste and/or foresight.
The
M-2
Individual Medical Jungle Kit was only manufactured in olive-drab canvas; it was supplied to each soldier fighting in jungle areas…
"
It was carried by all
MARINES and Ground Troops in the Pacific Theater
by the end of the war! These were issued both with Contents and without Contents -- and filled and re-filled with contents at the unit level. Surviving examples show a tremendous variety of items. The additional two
Eyelets
on the bottom of the Case facilated the suspension of a
M1923
or
M1942 First Aid Packet Carrier.
*****
Mine Safety Appliances Company
(
MSA
)
History:
Mine Safety Appliances Company
(
MSA
) is one of the world's largest designers and manufacturers of equipment that protects both the safety and the health of workers in a variety of hazardous occupations around the world, including such industries as general manufacturing, fire service, construction, power generation, transportation, aerospace, asbestos abatement, petroleum, hazardous materials and waste cleanup, and mining. Personal protective equipment includes such items as eye and face, head, and body protectors, and respiratory protective equipment such as air-supplied, air-purifying containers. The company also designs and makes a wide range of instruments that monitor and analyze industrial processes and workplace environments. From its beginnings in the early part of the 20th century to the turn of the new millennium,
MSA
has expanded from a small local firm into an organization that markets its products in over 140 countries around the world.
Early History
Mine Safety Appliances
was founded in 1914 by the Deike Family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to provide helmets and other safety devices to the men who worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and beyond. The company remained quite small for nearly 20 years, and was built from nothing into a solid concern within a generation of the firm's first day of business. As with most company histories, however, it is the person who takes the initial product or business idea and develops it into a worldwide success story that deserves the focus of attention. The person at
Mine Safety
who fits this description is John T. Ryan, Jr.
John T. Ryan, Jr., was born in 1912 in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, John T. Ryan, attended the
School of Mines
at
Pennsylvania
State University
, concentrating in the Mining Engineering, Metallurgy, and Geology programs, one of the best programs in the entire area. When he was old enough, John, Jr., was sent to the same school where he studied the same subjects. While he was attending the
School of Mines
, however, John, Jr., had already become acquainted with the
Mine Safety company
since his father worked there for a number of years. After he graduated in 1934 with a degree in mining engineering, John, Jr., saved his money and then applied to and was accepted in the M.B.A. program at
Harvard
University.
After Ryan graduated from
Harvard
in 1936 with an M.B.A., he began to work as an employee at
Mine Safety Appliances Company
. Luckily, the Ryan family was not hard hit by the economic hardships of the Great Depression, which drove numerous individuals into bankruptcy, and signaled the collapse of what many people regarded as stable businesses and corporations. Throughout the latter half of the 1930s, John, Jr., found steady employment in the midst of economic insecurity, and was able to focus on learning all of the company's operations, from the design and manufacture of protective mining helmets to the accounting methods used in the annual financial reports. As he became more familiar with the firm, he was promoted quickly, and proved himself an energetic and talented manager.
When he was promoted to
General Manager of Mine Safety Appliances
in 1940, the company was at a crossroads in its historical development. Many of the upper management executives at the firm remained committed to the product line that had brought
Mine Safety
to the secure and stable financial position it found itself in at the time. But some of the more influential individuals of the upper management at the company, and the founding members of the Deike family itself, clearly recognized the changing nature of the mining industry, and the potential effects that a war would have on the manufacturing industry in the United States. This view was shared by Ryan and many of his coworkers. Amid acrimonious and sometimes bitter disagreement, Ryan was promoted to general manager of the company with the imperative to expand its product line and its operations. Rather than focusing on the word '
Mine
' in the company name, Ryan focused on the word '
Safety
' and set a new course for the firm that would ultimately make it one of the most successful multinational corporations within the personal safety products industry.
World War II and the Postwar Era
During World War II, as General Manager Ryan directed the company into a broader product line. No longer an exclusive manufacturer of
mining helmets,
the company began to design and make firemen helmets, construction helmets, and a wide array of protective headgear for different manufacturing sectors in the U.S. economy, such as the steel and the paper and pulp industries. Orders from companies who had received government contracts for the production of tanks, aircraft, and battleships, and that needed protective helmets and eyewear for their employees, streamed into the firm. Revenues increased, more employees were hired, and the product line continued to expand. By the end of World War II in the summer of 1945,
Mine Safety Appliances Company
was looking forward to a very lucrative postwar era.
Ryan was made executive vice-president of the company in 1948, and from that time onward he virtually traveled the globe to expand his firm's presence. Ryan was committed to an aggressive expansion strategy that included extensive personal travel to developing countries. Wherever his journey led him, he tried to position his organization not only as a supplier of high quality products, but of products that would enable men and women to work in safety whatever their chosen profession. Immediately before World War II, Ryan had personally directed and arranged for
Mine Safety Appliances Company
to expand into Canada, Australia, and South Africa. Although his plans to continue the firm's strategic expansion program were delayed during the war, the first initiative he undertook after the war's end was the establishment of
Mine Safety Appliances Company
(Britain) in Glasgow, Scotland. The formation of this operation in the United Kingdom gave the company its initial foothold in Europe, a move that would become enormously important in the future.