Civilian "Canteens"? . . .

[F J]

Would anyone happen to know what civilians would have used to carry water on their person? Comparable to the military's canteen, what would civilians have used?

If you know, please post on this thread.

[Spinster]

Documentation on this is much fewer and further between than the military canteens---but some of that has to do with need and applicability.
Soldiers are of course marching all over the place, and need a canteen.

Civilians walking down the street in their town don't need to carry water with them--they've got cups, glassware, and a well at their own houses--and the same can be said for their neighbors.

But, as reenactors, we've got some practical problems to overcome.

A popular alternative for gentlemen is the period pocket flask--and what's in it is your choice.

For the lower classes, there are various versions of the gourd canteen--likely overrepresented in many venues, given that the documentation comes mostly out of Texas.

Various period style glass bottles, well corked and wrapped in some manner--plaited straw or cording, sewn leather.

Dipper and a bucket--cumbersome, but certainly used.

[F J]

Documentation on this is much fewer and further between than the military canteens---but some of that has to do with need and applicability.
Soldiers are of course marching all over the place, and need a canteen.

Civilians walking down the street in their town don't need to carry water with them--they've got cups, glassware, and a well at their own houses--and the same can be said for their neighbors.

But, as reenactors, we've got some practical problems to overcome.

A popular alternative for gentlemen is the period pocket flask--and what's in it is your choice.

For the lower classes, there are various versions of the gourd canteen--likely overrepresented in many venues, given that the documentation comes mostly out of Texas.

Various period style glass bottles, well corked and wrapped in some manner--plaited straw or cording, sewn leather.

Dipper and a bucket--cumbersome, but certainly used.

Mrs. Lawson, (and anyone else who would like to reply),

Would any civilians of the era that did a lot of traveling (on horseback and otherwise) have had anything, besides hip flasks and gourds, that would have been comparable to military canteens in terms of volume and ease of carrying?

[NoahBriggs]

Historically, no, because they only needed to stop at a creek or someone's well to get a few dipperfuls of water. The modern equivalent is stopping at the rest area on a long drive to use the water fountain or stopping in a convenience store to buy bottled water.

Again, what Mrs. Lawson said. Or if you want to, you could try carrying a bottle of some kind, load it from a creek as you travel and drop some sanitizing tablets into said bottle. Wait for a half hour. Drink. A couple of folks have done this for week-long events where carrying lots of water was not practical.

Then again, a lot of folks ignore the historic methods and carry wooden canteens they rationalize as "Mex War surplus" or something they scavenged off of a battlefield.

[Blair]

F J,

Leather maybe formed into a variety containers. This is a very old method of carrying water.
It is lighter than wood and ceramic containers and less fragile than ceramic containers.
Such containers were traditionally lined with Pitch. Today, Brewers Pitch is used.
Gourds may also be used for carrying such things, from water to gun powder.
These, of course, are items that predate the ACW time period, but would have been unknown as alternatives.
E-mail me and I'll send you photos of a leather water bottle and a mug called a Black Jack.

[Bear Flagger]

Military Surplus is always a choice. I know that ‘49ers going to California carried tin drum canteen, based on several photographs. The Autry Museum of the American West has an 1858 model canteen that was used by a stage coach driver. I should also point out that when confronted by the military you will have some explaining to do.

[lincolnsguard]

I hear if you leave the seeds in a "gourd" canteen, their natural adgitation helps keep the dirt and mould and fungus down to near none on the inside. Anyone else hear this? Is a leather, rope or string sling more authentic? What's best to use as a stopper?

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Original gourds I've seen as canteens were often painted on the exterior, or shellaced, to protect it. Most often the stopper is a simple cork. Straps as seen in contemporary drawings seem mostly to be rope or cord, but as one who has carried a repro with a rope, it'll bite down on your shoulders pretty well. As for the seed thing, I've never heard of that practice in the period and would tend to doubt its usefullness. Once dried, the seeds harden and float, so you'd end up swallowing them because they won't sink to the bottom.

[Blair]

Eli,

Based on my experience in turning gourds into various types of containers, a waxy- like flesh should be removed from the outside of the gourd first.
This helps the hard outer shell to dry without rotting.
Next, one needs to study the shape an contours of that specific gourd to determine how one might best finish "Fleshing" out the insides for your intended needs.
Open one end and/or cut the un wanted areas away that will allow you to clean the interior of the gourd out as much as you can to allow drying without rot/spoilage setting in before it can dry.
After the gourd is completely dried, additional interior cleaning (scraping) maybe require depending on the intended usage.
If you want to place fluids in it, coat the interior with wax (bees wax).
If you intend to store dry contents like gun powder, coat the exterior with a water resistant varnish or something like bees wax.
The "stoppers" can be made from many things. Soft woods that can be hand carved, cork if you can get it or even corn cobs. Stoppers could be made tight fitting with waxed thread, yarn or cordage for wet containers.
Dry containers, Waxed threads may not be a good choice. Tight fitting stoppers in dry containers should be carved out very carefully for a good fit.

Note, This is a perfect time of year for finding gourds for converting into containers!
Hope this helps,

[TB1861]

People didn't walk too far and were willing to drink water we wouldn't think of drinking. If traveling in a place with limited water they hauled it in barrels on a wagon and carried enough for the animals that hauled the wagon.
Marcy says that some people use a handkerchief over the top of their cup to filter out the mud and advised not drinking from water that has a putrid smell or dead animals in it.