I found it interesting when coming across government issue items made by wartime manufacturers other than the ones they were typically associated with.  At various times, I was issued a M1911A1 made by Colt, Remington, Ithaca and Union Switch & Signal. Many were WWII era that had been refurbished at an arsenal.

Singer, the sewing machine company, also made a few. I don't remember coming across one though. I did think it'd be a novelty to have a Singer M1911A1 and a Thompson Submachine gun (Tommy gun) since both are .45 ACP. One would be armed with a sewing machine and a Chicago typewriter!

Related: I still have a Vietnam era, government issue, plastic canteen made by IDEAL... the plastic toy manufacturer.

ETA: The use of multiple manufacturers for government issue items creates an issue on the military surplus market. Sellers on places like eBay sometimes post pictures of and identify an item as being one manufacturer's production while shipping another manufacturer's production of the same item. There can be important differences, making one preferable to another, and sellers take advantage of buyers claiming that they're all the same according to the US government. That, of course, is not true.

Last edited by Anon (6/30/2024 3:35 pm)

You call it a B-24 and a P-51 motor, the credit goes to the government who only uses that designation and the serial number. It only makes a difference to aftermarket buyers of things like Jeeps. Was it made by Willys or Ford. Solders didn't care, collectors do.
Singer .45... intriguing. The Ideal canteen in not a surprise, thousands of companies, some or them household names, have blow or injection molding plastic machines and can take on contract work when they are slow.
Of course blow or injection molding a simple plastic piece is a far cry from an M1911A1.