Here we have a unique item on display at the Varnum Memorial Armory Museum: a 152+yr old piece of U.S. Civil War hardtack, the staple food ration for Union soldiers throughout the war.
This simple and sturdy cracker made of flour, water, and salt could be easily carried and last seemingly forever. Issued 9 to 10 per day, soldiers would invent imaginative ways to prepare and eat them. Dipping them in coffee to soften them and get the worms out was common.
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