The body consists of two circular sections of pressed-tin, formed in an oblate spheroid pattern and soldered together at the rim. Fluid capacity of the canteen was three pints and its liquid contents were kept cool by means of a damp or wet wool cover.

Canteen has only a small section of the cloth sling remaining. The spout has been cut for a lower profile. No stopper or cover is present.

Canteen body is in good condition with several shallow dents. All three sling keepers are present.

The front has a more modern museum business card on the front with a notation that reads “CANTEEN FOUND AT GETTYSBURG. SOLD SHIELDS MUSEUM AUCTION.”

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 fathers-in-law 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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