The View from Downrange: Sometimes It's The Little Things That Make Me Happy

Every now and then it's the little things in life that make me happy, and today's blog entry is about one of those. It's called the "Watch Mug," and it's something that I'd been trying to find for a long time. I just wasn't looking in the right place.

First, let me tell you about the watch mug. This style of mug was first used by the USMC around 1913 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - or at least that's the earliest proven date by the stamp on the bottom of a mug shard found on Glass Beach at Gitmo. The mug was designed to be heavy and sturdy to withstand the rigors of military use; it was also designed without a handle. This was for two reasons - the handle was normally the first thing to break off, so they didn't put one on it. The second reason is that Marines on guard or sentry duty - and later sailors on watch on board a ship at sea - would use the mug of hot coffee to warm their hands. The size of the mug (it's HUGE) and the lack of a handle made it perfect for wrapping your fingers around it to warm them up in the cold weather. This is how the mug got its name, the 'watch mug.'

The picture above shows a Marine on board a Navy ship after the invasion of Entiwok Island in WWII drinking coffee out of a watch mug. You can see two other watch mugs on the table behind him.

As you can see from the picture above, the watch mug wasn't exclusive to the Marines and the Navy; the Air Force and the Army used it as well.

The mugs became standard issue on US Navy vessels, staying in use until around the time of the Vietnam War. I haven't been able to find anything about when the mug went out of use by the other services, but I know that by the time I joined the Air Force it was long gone.

As soon as I saw one of these mugs I wanted one. I thought it was cool as hell, and the fact that it was a part of Navy history is the part that intrigued me the most. As you may recall from my previous posts, my father was in the US Navy from 1946-1951 stationed on board the USS MISSISSIPPI AG-128, which means that he drank from a mug just like this when he was either on watch or eating chow.

The first time I found one of these mugs was on e-bay (of course), and it was an original Corning mug from WWII - and the seller wanted $80 for it. Nope, not happening. I looked around some more, but couldn't find anyone who made a reproduction mug. And all of the originals I found were all sky-high in price, so I was just about ready to give up.

Then, about two weeks ago, I found a company online called Glass Beach Mugs. They make an exact replica of the 1917 USMC mug designed from shards of broken mugs found at Glass Beach, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They also make three other versions of the mugs, one of which has the Masonic Square and Compasses on it. (Too bad I didn't find this one last year, huh?) Of course I immediately bought one, and since the Centennial USMC Mug was sold out, I went for the next one in line, the Filibuster Mug. Including shipping the total cost was right at $30, and let me tell you it's worth every penny!

This mug is HUGE! It holds 13 ounces of liquid, so if you use creamer in your coffee you're gonna want to leave a little room in the mug for that. It's also HEAVY, weighing in at 1.25 pounds! It's VERY thick, and I'm quite sure that if I dropped it on the floor it wouldn't break. Like I said, this mug is worth every penny!

While I'm very pleased with all of the attributes of this mug, the main reason I love it as much as I do is very simple. Since my father drank out of a mug like this when he was in the Navy, every time I use it I feel like I'm having coffee with my father.

Like I said, sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

I love you, Pop, and I miss you.

Electrician's Mate 3rd Class (EM3) Raymond Craig, 1950