Spanish American War US Army First Aid First contract wound Dressing 1898

Description

This listing is for a reproduction of a now extremely rare First contract US Military first aid dressing.This is the first "individual "First aid dressing contracted for by the US Army in 1898 during the Spanish American War.
Over 260,000 of a much larger contract of these dressings was delivered from the Johnson & Johnson,Company via rail to the US Army cantonments at Tampa, Florida in the summer of 1898 for "...immediate and liberal issue"... to troops preparing to invade Cuba.
The dressing "First Help for wounds" made by Johnson & Johnson,Co. was based
directly on the existing British Army First Field Dressing as issued to HM forces in South Africa and British colonies. The reproduction does not contain a sterile bandage or a triangular illustrated Erlanger sling(block of wood or kleenex) but is otherwise made to exacting size specifications as per the contract specifics original examples and is intended for display or living history use and is not a sterile first aid bandage. The bandage packing is a nearly flawless muslin
similar
to the original bandage material.
The full initial contract for these bandages was delivered to the US Army and apparently most if not all where issued as intended to troops during the Spanish American War and to US Forces in the Philippines.These bandages where
liberally
used however ,where wrapped to standards of the then
current
civilian
market of the period and did not hold up well to the damp conditions encountered in Cuba and the
Philippines
. Johnson & Johnson had no
experience
with an Army contract First aid bandage nor did the US Army as this was the first issue of the item.
The
Enlarger
slings where
novel
and have survived the war in some numbers along with pins but the complete bandages are very rare.
The bandage was a success in combat and later contracts specified a more substantial wrapper. These heavy wrapped asphalt paper bandages do not look
similar
to this one but are post Spanish American war contract used through 1906 when the Brass cased Carlisle bandage was introduced and issued.
This bandage is the "First contract" pattern. No orders Army orders or directions existed at the time these where issued as to where they where to be carried as they had never been issued before. My guess is the ample haversack or any where else one may
chose
.