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Old 04-01-2020, 07:02 PM   #1
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Veterans, Hoarded Supplies and "Trading Goods"

The current hoarding mania reminded me of my time in the Army when stationed overseas. It was in the mid 60's and all kinds of supplies were hoarded due to shortages.

Where I was stationed the two most popular items to be hoarded were plywood and yellow paint. The plywood I understood but never wrapped my head around the yellow paint.

There was an unofficial economy built around the trading of hoarded supplies. If you needed something, you "paid" for it with something from your stockpile.

Our Company regularly got plywood and yellow paint and it was our bank that our First Sgt regularly used to buy other supplies. And yes, sometimes he had to trade for cases of TP


Any other stories of hoarding and bartering from other Vets? If nothing else it'll be like our "time in" when many of us would just sit around telling stories about what we did in order to kill time until the next flurry of activity.
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Old 04-01-2020, 07:25 PM   #2
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Oh my gosh yes! It was either the 1st shirt, the supply sergeant, the motor sergeant and the mess sergeant that had a stash of what we referred to as "tradin' material". It was as routine as reveille. Trading went on intra-army and with sister services as well. If we were due an inspection all the "goods" were loaded onto a deuce and a half and dispatched to parts unknown for the day.
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Old 04-01-2020, 07:54 PM   #3
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So who has TP? I have bleach.[emoji6]
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Old 04-01-2020, 08:08 PM   #4
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These guys in texas have enough to burn!

https://twitter.com/KCTV5/status/124...260873729?s=09
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Old 04-01-2020, 08:37 PM   #5
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For the most part, we just went on midnight requisition parties.
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Old 04-01-2020, 08:52 PM   #6
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It wasn't exactly "hording" but when I was stationed in Korea in 1969-70, we somehow got tons and tons of cases of 14 oz. cans of Old Milwaukee beer. The NCO club had "nickle beer night" every Wednesday for almost two months. 50 cents went a long way on Wednesdays.
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Old 04-01-2020, 08:58 PM   #7
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I'm not a veteran, but my dad was a Seabee in wwII. He told of some bartering (tradin') that they did in the Philippines. I always pictured it as a fun thing he enjoyed. There's an old movie about a navy ship where night raids were made to get supplies from other stock piles on shore. I think it had Tony Curtis in it.
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Originally Posted by TitanMike View Post
The current hoarding mania reminded me of my time in the Army when stationed overseas. It was in the mid 60's and all kinds of supplies were hoarded due to shortages.

Where I was stationed the two most popular items to be hoarded were plywood and yellow paint. The plywood I understood but never wrapped my head around the yellow paint.

There was an unofficial economy built around the trading of hoarded supplies. If you needed something, you "paid" for it with something from your stockpile.

Our Company regularly got plywood and yellow paint and it was our bank that our First Sgt regularly used to buy other supplies. And yes, sometimes he had to trade for cases of TP


Any other stories of hoarding and bartering from other Vets? If nothing else it'll be like our "time in" when many of us would just sit around telling stories about what we did in order to kill time until the next flurry of activity.
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Old 04-01-2020, 09:29 PM   #8
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As a motor pool supply Sgt for the battilion M1 tank parts were worth thier weight in Gold
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Old 04-01-2020, 10:29 PM   #9
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In summer of 72 we were told to pack many rolls of TP in hold baggage on way to Anchorage. Of course by the time we got up there that shortage had been cleared. We had a lot of "stuff" stashed in the hospital where I worked. Did more trading then ordering. But we keep everything running!
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Old 04-02-2020, 04:11 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by TitanMike View Post
The current hoarding mania reminded me of my time in the Army when stationed overseas. It was in the mid 60's and all kinds of supplies were hoarded due to shortages.

Where I was stationed the two most popular items to be hoarded were plywood and yellow paint. The plywood I understood but never wrapped my head around the yellow paint.

There was an unofficial economy built around the trading of hoarded supplies. If you needed something, you "paid" for it with something from your stockpile.

Our Company regularly got plywood and yellow paint and it was our bank that our First Sgt regularly used to buy other supplies. And yes, sometimes he had to trade for cases of TP


Any other stories of hoarding and bartering from other Vets? If nothing else it'll be like our "time in" when many of us would just sit around telling stories about what we did in order to kill time until the next flurry of activity.
When I was on a ship, it was coffee, name brand cigarettes, and an air conditioned space. Coffee was rationed per shop when at sea, so the one with the biggest supply had bargaining power. Brand name cigs sold out in the first couple of weeks. We used to pay the pilots to pick us up some cases when they were able to fly onto shore bases. Air conditioned space was a premium when in the gulf. Guys used to give us all kind of stuff just to be able to take a 20-30min nap in our shop.
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Old 04-02-2020, 04:37 AM   #11
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Yes coffee was the deal. Down south in Chile we traded 20 pound cans of coffee for king crabs with the local fisherman at sea. We were eating like kings that day. Coffee was commonly bartered for needed items like repair parts or office supplies between ships. When I first came in the Navy the Chiefs used to go have their liquid lunch at the base club. The meeting of the minds came back daily before liberty call with their wants for the days bartering at the club.
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Old 04-02-2020, 04:53 AM   #12
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Veterans, Hoarded Supplies and "Trading Goods"

In Naples we got our sides painted in exchange for the brass 3”/50 shell casings we saved from our gun shoots. The paint job didn’t last long, but we did look pretty for a while.
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Old 04-02-2020, 05:43 AM   #13
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not a hoarding story but as a teen 1969-70 working on navel base golf course ... I was 12 ... the bid deal was jet pilots flying back from trip out west with a case of Coors beer under there seat .... was not sold east of Mississippi back then ... pilots would bring to pro shop and share with their golf buddies .... great memories
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Old 04-02-2020, 07:19 AM   #14
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Coors beer stories... These days, when really GOOD beer is being brewed in local craft-breweries,... and Coors is common.... it’s amazing to think that such plain-quality suds were so highly valued.
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Old 04-02-2020, 08:25 AM   #15
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In the early 70’s we would leave Oklahoma with a Suburban packed full of Coors, and bird dogs, headed to Iowa to pheasant hunt. Many an Iowa farmer would trade for an afternoon in his corn fields. Always welcomed you back the next year.
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Old 04-02-2020, 11:26 AM   #16
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In summer of 72 we were told to pack many rolls of TP in hold baggage on way to Anchorage. Of course by the time we got up there that shortage had been cleared. We had a lot of "stuff" stashed in the hospital where I worked. Did more trading then ordering. But we keep everything running!
The post I was stationed at had a "Ration Breakdown" building where C-Rat's that were approaching their pull date were broken down. The canned goods went to the mess hall to be incorporated into meals. The accessory packs were broken down and stored in huge boxes. Cigarettes, TP, P-38's, and candy were all there for the grabbing if you made friends with the guys working there.

I still smoked so I scored some cigarettes from time to time but every once in a while I'd fill an empty ration box with the little TP packets. Came in handy at the barracks on weekends when the Supply Sergeant was off post and all the latrines were down to the latest edition of Stars and Stripes or Overseas Weekly.

Also took plenty with me when on leave in Europe.
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Old 04-02-2020, 12:39 PM   #17
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It was plain quality back then but folk lore and lack of availability made it more desirable. Kinda like Rolling Rock in the Southeast.
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Coors beer stories... These days, when really GOOD beer is being brewed in local craft-breweries,... and Coors is common.... it’s amazing to think that such plain-quality suds were so highly valued.
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Old 04-02-2020, 01:56 PM   #18
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In Naples we got our sides painted in exchange for the brass 3”/50 shell casings we saved from our gun shoots. The paint job didn’t last long, but we did look pretty for a while.
My 1st class back in 82 traded a bucket of old bolts and nuts (mostly brass) for a self portrait painting of himself. Fire hose nozzles and anything brass was worth its weight in gold in Naples, Italy. Good thing we did not have any fires on board. The men operating the garbage barge were wearing old navy clothes and rummaging through the stuff. Zippo lighters were good barter with the hey joes on the street and some of the girls. We had a lot of good work done on our ship in Italy. Italy is a very unique place and I always liked it. Watch out for the castle girls in the fur coats, the camp fire girls, and Humpty Dumpty.
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