Military Slang Question

[Karlin]

Going through some letters from 1948, I ran in to the following term for a US Army dining hall: "Gunpowder Mess". I haven't been able to find anything about this term in the usual internet searches. Anybody know anything about this term, or, better yet, have a really good resource for army slang in general?

 

[CupofJoe]

The only Gunpowder Mess I've heard of is a pudding/dessert. It had Gunpowder Gin in it but was otherwise pretty much like Eton Mess... A mix [mess] of fruit, cream and meringue.

 

[Karlin]

I know of "gunpowder tea"- I even have some. Here's an example of the term in use: "Sunday evening the Sandbergs were my guests at gunpowder mess"

 

[CupofJoe]

If someone is "at gunpowder mess" it could mean an ad-hoc meal of some kind.
But I can find a couple of mentions of "Gunpowder Mess" deep in the web but nothing that really explains what it was.
It seems to be a special meal to commemorate an event in a unit's history or something like that.
My dad used to talk about the monthly "Tin Mess", when all the nearly expired tinned rations were served up as the daily food. He really liked the square sausages.

 

[Devor]

Here's a big glossary of slang terms from wiktionary, but it doesn't have gunpowder mess, unfortunately.

Appendix:Glossary of military slang - Wiktionary

It's just a guess, so probably not helpful, but to me it sounds like a potluck. I'm pretty sure it's a meal of some kind, "mess" coming from mess hall, and gunpowder tends to be chaotic and hectic, which you might expect when everyone brings their own dish and nobody's really organizing the meal.

 

[Mad Swede]

Going through some letters from 1948, I ran in to the following term for a US Army dining hall: "Gunpowder Mess". I haven't been able to find anything about this term in the usual internet searches. Anybody know anything about this term, or, better yet, have a really good resource for army slang in general?

As far as I know, its one of the names given to a US Officers Mess, or what these days would be called an Officers Club. My grandfather once told me that he'd heard the term used when he was serving in Korea.

 

[Karlin]

As far as I know, its one of the names given to a US Officers Mess, or what these days would be called an Officers Club. My grandfather once told me that he'd heard the term used when he was serving in Korea.

That would fit. My father was discharged just before the Korean war. And being a physician, he was an officer. In fact, though three generations have served in armies, he remains the highest ranking one.

 

[Malik]

Career military, here, and never heard of it.

 

[pmmg]

Gunpowder mess is a dessert made with gunpowder gin. If it is different in the military this may mean a place to go drinking. Since its origins are chinesee maybe this was a term used in the pacific theatre. But its just a guess.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I’m stymied, but it tickles the imagination trying to come up with explanations, that’s for sure. Makes me curious if there is a book of mid-century military slang. One of my favorite books is a collection of cowboy slang and phrase. I bet WW2 spawned a lot of good stuff. The web has a lot, but it tends to lack the depth of someone doing real research for a big ol’ book.

Penguin, member of the Air Force who doesn’t fly, not sure how I never heard this one.

Royal order of whale bangers... people who dropped depth charges on whales by mistake.

I’m easily humored when tired, what can I say.