Enjoy your coffee, Navy style!
A good day has to start with a nice cup of coffee, and it tastes even better when served in a nice Navy cup 😛 Here are two examples of U.S. Navy mugs/cups, WW2 mug and a later style. Even the WW2 ones can still be found rather cheap if you look around carefully.
The classic WW2 mug does not have a handle, it is often called the “Watch Duty Hand Warmer” mug
It features the old Corning Ware / Glass Blower logo (later Pyrex). It’s hard to make out, couldn’t get a good photo of it somehow…
Here is the later style which was used up to the 1970s/80s i think?
Some photos:
Marines, looking grimy and weary from 2 days & 2 nights of fighting on Eniwetok Atoll
“WAVES”, 1943
Marines, 1941
Can’t see them? Bottom right corner 😉
M1 Pencil 
From what I understand (have read), most of the handle-less WWII military coffee mugs were china (whiteware), not the Pyrex ones; in some of the photos you posted they do look more like the china ones. Cool post!
Hi, I think you are right, some look indeed like china. I guess several styles of cups were in use? I got a pyrex style mug from a guy who’s dad brought it back from WW2 (gave it to me for free, so there was no need to make up a story to increase value 😉 ). Will try to find out more, I love those nerdy little topics haha 😀
Great Article. I have quite a few of these Corningware ones that went through the war (WWII), including one that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor onboard the USS Maryland. Great little cups that sure have stood the test of time.
I’d like to buy one if you can spare it.
I have none for sale, but you can find them on eBay from time to time. Happy hunting! 🙂
I was told by fellow militaria collectors that the Pyrex ones were from late WWII or the 1950s, and the china ones were first issued prior to WWI, by circa 1912 or so. Thanks for the post!
Hello everyone, I wonder how much the price of the mug that has no handle if you are going to buy one. I hope to hear from you guys soon.
i have 3 corning tm reg if i can sell it how much u will buy
I’m looking for one of the coffee mugs with the blue lines (like the one pictured above) for my boyfriend who served on the USS Flying Fish.
Can you help?
Hi, I guess currently eBay is your best bet. They seem to have become more scarce in recent years
my wife has been collecting these over the years, not really knowing what they were. she collects old stoneware pottery, and she also has a collection of old diner mugs, but she had about three or four of the stone china watchman mugs. i am a sucker for the old americana/workwear/militaria aesthetic (i’m sitting here typing this while wearing a pair of 60yo fisher-stripe mechanics coveralls), but i didn’t know anything about them either. about a month ago, i randomly decided to grab one of these, wash it out and use it for coffee, and since then we’ve decided to only use these for coffee. i bought a couple of the corningware mugs over the weekend, and still didn’t know the history. the tags at the antique shop said “shaving cup” so that’s what i thought they were. today i learned their history and intended use, and i feel like i need to find as many as possible now. we actually found a stoneware version a couple of weeks ago that was decorated with flowers and the word “mother” on it, and my wife has been using it exclusively. thanks for the history lesson!
That sounds nice! Glad you found the info useful & happy hunting 🙂
My grandpa gave me a few of the white handle-less ones that he had from his time in WWII. They’re the best cups, I love using them and they’re such a unique piece of history. I have yet to find a modern equivalent that captures the same quality and simplicity. I’m always looking to aquire more if anyone wants to sell some, same name at gmail. Thanks 1pencil for collecting all this info and putting it online for us!
I unknowingly bought two mugs at a thriftstore. Impeccable condition. They sat in my cupboard. I just brought them down to wash them and was struck my the Made In America and Corning written at bottom. The mugs look brand new but figured the fact that it was made in USA, they can’t be new. An internet search led me here. How incredible!!
I found two of these watch mugs Made by corning on a island in the Pacific during the 1980s when I was sailing down there on my trimaran, the island was called Palmyra. lots of old, interesting world war ll objects, still laying around, found the cups laying on the beach, buried halfway in the sand.
hello I have one here in my home I would like to ask if there have a value