Small GAR Souvenir canteen, with cover, cord, chain, and cork (SOLD)

This is another nice piece being offered, it is a GAR Reunion Souvenir canteen, having a diameter of 2 ¾ x 2 1/4”. The small tin canteen was manufactured to look identical to the typical US Model 1858 Civil War canteen. It has a reddish felt cover with the intertwined GAR logo and “We drank from the same canteen / 1861 - 1865”.

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy, and the Marines who served in the Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Springfield, Illinois, and grew to include thousands of "posts" (local community units) across the nation (predominantly in the Northeast, but also a few in the South and West). It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota.

The canteen always represented a strong connection among veterans. A common theme at the time was “We Drank from the Same Canteen”, indicating the closeness among comrades, almost like brothers. After the war there were many reunions among veterans and usually the “symbolic canteen” was made available from venders,

In my book “The Civil War Canteen – Third Edition”, I show examples of these souvenir canteens and discuss the importance they had among the veterans (see pictures). The canteen is in very nice condition for being over 100 years old.