Dimensions / Weight

Dimensions: 5" H x 10" W x 10" D

Physical Description

Brown cardboard box, marked with a red cross and lettered in black "American Red Cross Prisoner of War Food Package No. 10 for distribution through the International Red Cross Committee."

Specific History

Food packages often provided American prisoners with better fare than their captors had. The American Red Cross assembly plants in five locations in the East and Midwest. Special packages for invalids, Christmas packages, and a printed bulletin of non-war events in the United States were also sent.

General History

Filled by Red Cross volunteers in the United States, these boxes were then shipped to the International Committee of the Red Cross warehouse in Geneva Switzerland. From Switzerland, the boxes were shipped to the nearly 1.4 million allied prisoners of war held in Germany. Filled by the Red Cross in cooperation with the Army's Quartermaster Corps, the boxes usually contained the following: Army spread, canned bacon, luncheon meat, salmon, dehydrated corned beef, canned cheese product, soluble coffee, powdered milk and chocolate D bars. Non-food items included: toilet paper, soap, paper towels, can opener, needles, thread, patching cloth, vitamin capsules, salt and tobacco.