This relic canteen is 95% complete. All three sling keepers are present, one side is complete while the other is severely dented and near complete with only a small piece approx. 3.50 x 1.75 inches missing. There is also no spout, sling or cover.

Canteen is covered in dirt and surface rust and was no doubt dug from the ground.

Item is from the Shield’s Museum that once stood along Route 30 on the 1st Day’s battlefield at Gettysburg very near where the statues of Generals John Buford and John F. Reynolds stand today.

Arthur “OTT” Shield’s opened a Civil War Museum west of Gettysburg along route 30 near the Reynold’s Monument in 1925. OTT would amass one of the largest and earliest collections of Gettysburg artifacts. His museum would rival the Danner Museum and his father-in-law’s museum, John Rosensteel’s “Round Top Museum/Inn.”

OTT and his wife Margaret (Rosensteel) the only child of John Rosensteel, would raise seven children at the museum which was also their homestead. After their father’s death in 1950, Ellen, their daughter, continued to operate the museum and concession stand. The museum was free of charge and was sustained financially on sales of extra artifacts, concessions and souvenirs.

The Shields family would operate the museum until the “NPS” acquired the property in 1985. The collection was sold by Redding Auctions in November 1985.  [AD] [ph:L]

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