Page 30 - Nov 2020 JOA

Post-war Coleman advertising played up
the sturdiness and staying power of
consortium of manufacturers developed a smaller, lighter, techni-
cally improved model, the M-1942. The same high-intensity the pocket stove and to keep it popular,
moving it from the warfront
burner as the 520 stove was used. A significant feature was the to the homefront.
combination filler cap and pump which also included a spare parts
compartment. At least three companies manufactured the M-1942.
It supplemented but did not supplant the original 520 stove.
Coleman went on to produce nearly twenty varieties of stoves
and cookers for the U.S. military from two burner 10,000 BTU fold-
ing stoves to large four burner units. The tiny Model 527 Dental
Stove was produced in partnership with American Sterilizer who sup-
plied a rectangular stainless steel pan and a pan holder with folding
legs all of which fit neatly into the pan. These stoves found regular
use in hospital tents for sterilizing instruments.

Bringing Coleman Home
There were never enough of the wildly
popular pint-size pocket stoves to go around
because every soldier wanted one. Needed one.
The Model 520 was like gold to those who came to
depend on it. On long marches, it has been said,
essentials were sometimes dropped by the wayside to
reduce burdensome weight – but the a G.I. pocket
stove always traveled with the soldiers.
The stove was popularized back home and in the
military press both by Ernie Pyle’s news reports and by
Sergeant Bill Mauldin who occasionally included the lit-
tle stove in his cartoon depictions of foxhole life.
Thousands of soldiers returning home, having used the
520, wrote Coleman asking for a pocket stove “like the one
I used in the war.” Coleman fulfilled their wishes by produc- smaller M-1942 and M-1950 models are
ing an updated civilian pocket stove, the 5000 BTU Model less difficult to locate in good used condition. Price
530, complete with canister, lid, wrench, and funnel-on-a-chain begin- varies with condition and completeness ranging from $50 to $150 or
ning a five-year production more for suitable examples. The few parts that might require attention
run in 1946. Coleman are the vaporizer and the pump leather. One source is Old
replaced the Model Colemanparts.com. Alternately, dismantling and cleaning the vaporizer
530 in 1952 with a and returning it to use is fairly easy. Numerous vendors make and sell
less expensive single pump leathers on that popular online auction site. These little stoves
burner camp stove. are tough as nails and fun to use 75 years on.
Coleman Pocket For more information on Coleman, visit intlccc.net
Stoves can still be Three restored Coleman 530 GI stoves dated A46, B46, and A47
found in working
order amongst
collectors of gas
pressure appliances,
Coleman collectors
and those who
collect militaria.
One potential
source is to go to
yard/estate sales.
The war era
Model 520 is
uncommon to
rare anymore
and prices
reflect the
scarcity. The
530 and the

28 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles