Anchar Fish Eaters

[dognose]

Hi,

Has anyone come across this maker before?







ANCHAR E.P.N.S - GRTD

MADE THAN U.S.A. - WHITE METAL

They are of a one-piece solid construction, and despite the E.P.N.S. mark, show no evidence of ever being plated, although there is always the possibility of it being completely polished away. The metal is a very yellow brass colour, much more so than it appears in the images, and certainly not 'White Metal'.

The marking is most curious, especially 'Made Than U.S.A'

Any thoughts most welcome.

Trev.

[Traintime]

Gut feeling would be that "GRTD", possibly meant to be stamped "CRTD" (?), may have something to do with "Registered Trade-Mark" [and maybe "Copyright"] relating to that Anchar name. They could be bluffing, but if they did register it there must be a record somewhere.

[dognose]

Hi Traintime,

Thanks for your thoughts. I took the "GRTD" to be an abbreviation for "Guaranteed", but if so, exactly what they were guaranteeing and for how long, I'll guess we'll never know.

Trev.

[Traintime]

Oddly, Anchar is a lake near the northern India city of Srinigar.

[dognose]

That's interesting, these have all the feel of an Far Eastern product, rather than something made in the States.

Perhaps we are looking at counterfeit, and very, very badly researched marks?

Trev.

[Traintime]

If they are from India, then perhaps WWII? From what I found there were a huge number of airfields constructed. At first, local labor was set to the task, but as the schedules fell behind it was necessary to re-organize the whole effort. Given that all those pilots were officers, it seems possible that someone in-country was trying to supply the needs for wares beyond a mess kit, however dubious the claim of quality.