WWII & Korean War C-Ration (One Day's Meals) ~ 1951 US Army; from The Big Picture TV-211

The contents of the WWII-Korean War US Army C-Ration are explained by Colonel (later Lieutenant General) William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" Quinn. 

Originally a public domain film, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-ration

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 The C-Ration, or Type C ration, was an individual canned, pre-cooked, and prepared wet ration. It was intended to be issued to U.S. military land forces when fresh food (A-ration) or packaged unprepared food (B-ration) prepared in mess halls or field kitchens was not possible or not available, and when a survival ration (K-ration or D-ration) was insufficient. Development began in 1938 with the first rations being field tested in 1940 and wide-scale adoption following soon after. Operational conditions often caused the C-ration to be standardized for field issue regardless of environmental suitability or weight limitations.

The C-Ration was replaced in 1958 with the Meal Combat Individual (MCI). Although officially a new ration, the MCI was derived from and very similar to the original C-Ration, and in fact continued to be called "C-Rations" by American troops throughout its production life as a combat ration (1958–1980). Although the replacement for the MCI, the MRE, was formally adopted as the Department of Defense combat ration in 1975, the first large-scale production test did not occur until in 1978 with the first MRE I rations packed and delivered in 1981. While the MRE officially replaced the MCI in 1981, previously packed MCI rations continued to be issued until depleted...

The original Type C ration, commonly known as the C-Ration, was intended to replace the Reserve Ration as a short-term individual ration designed for short use, to be supplemented by the D-Ration emergency ration.

Development of a replacement for the Reserve Ration was undertaken by the newly formed Quartermaster Subsistence Research and Development Laboratory in Chicago in 1938 with the aim of producing a ration that was more palatable, nutritionally balanced, and had better keeping qualities.

The first Type C ration consisted of a one-pound 'meat' unit (M-unit) (reduced to 12 ounces (340 g) after being field tested during the 1940 Louisiana maneuvers). In the initial Type C ration, there were only three variations of the main course: meat and beans, meat and potato hash, or meat and vegetable stew. Also issued was one bread-and-dessert can, or B-unit. Each daily ration (i.e. enough food for one soldier for one day) consisted of six 12 oz (340 g) cans (three M-units and three B-units), while an individual meal consisted of one M-unit and one B-unit. The original oblong can was replaced with the more common cylindrical design in June 1939 due to mass production problems with the former shape of can.

The 12 oz (340 g) C-Ration can was about 4.4 inches (11 cm) tall and 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter. It was made of non-corrugated tinplate, had a visible tin solder seam, and incorporated an opening strip. A key for use on the opening strip was soldered to the base of every B unit can.

The first C-Ration cans had an aluminized finish, but in late 1940, this was changed to a gold lacquer finish to improve corrosion resistance. There was noticeable variation in the depth of gold color in World War II vintage cans, because of the large number of suppliers involved. Late in the war this was changed to drab green paint, which remained standard through the remainder of the C-ration’s service life, as well as that of its (very similar) successor, the Meal Combat Individual (MCI).

During the war, soldiers frequently requested that the cylindrical cans be replaced with flat, rectangular ones... After 1942 the K ration too, reverted to the use of small round cans...

The C-Ration was, in general, not well liked by U.S. Army or Marine forces in World War II, who found the cans heavy and cumbersome, and the menu monotonous after a short period of time...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilson_Quinn

Lieutenant General William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" Quinn (November 1, 1907 – September 11, 2000) was a United States Army officer, who served in intelligence during World War II. Born in Crisfield, Somerset, Maryland and a 1933 graduate of West Point, Quinn retired as a lieutenant general on March 1, 1966 as the commanding general of the Seventh United States Army. He died in Washington, DC at Walter Reed Army Hospital at 92 years old...