WW2 Jerry Can

WW2 jeeps carried the iconic Jerry can on their rear panel. The history of these fuel and water cans is quite fascinating. It’s hard to believe, but at the start of WW2 the US did not have convenient, stackable, safe and strong container to carry these essential liquids. The US developed their can from reverse engineering and improving the German can, developed just before WW2.

G503.com’s forums about Jerry Cans

Hagerty’s excellent article about the development of the Jerry can

WW2 Jerry Can Visual Reference – a cool site with tons of photos

Wikipedia’s very thorough Jerry can page

Here’s one of my unrestored Jerry cans which I’ll repaint and use for my GPW. It was made by N.S.I. – Noblitt-Sparks Industries, in Columbus, IN. Here’s an interesting article about the company. They made a wide range of products, especially for the war effort. Most WW2 Jerry cans had their manufacturing data embossed on the bottom panel. It’s my understanding that it was only in 1943, and only a few companies, where we can find the info embossed on the top, under the handles.

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ICC 5 stands for the Interstate Commerce Commission which formally regulated the economics and services of specified carriers engaged in transportation between states from 1887 to 1995. The “5” in ICC 5 refers to the Specifications for Shipping Containers document, first published in 1921. This document provided the regulations for fuel carriers and how they were to be marked.

The next line reads 20 – 5 ¼ – 43. The 43 refers to the year of manufacture, and the year is the only date provided on WW2 cans. The 20 refers to the minimum gauge of metal used in constructing the Jerry can, and the 5 ¼ refers to the volume of the can, in gallons. Some folks think the 20 refers to the volume in liters, but the US did not use the SI system of measurement, and 20 liters would only have confused most Americans. (Sadly, the same still applies today.)

Here’s the can with a fresh coat of paint. It turned out well. She still wears her battle scars.

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