Is one of these a fake?

[jimbow]

I'm also posting this at G503.com.

Here are photos of two jerry cans I found. They were in an old garden shed beneath a stack of old roofing felt, full of heating oil. I don't think they'd been touched in 20 years.

Note the seams where the tops join seem to be different. The screw on tops are different.

The light OD on the left is marked (TOP LINE) "ICC 5"; (CENTER LINE) "20 - 5 35 - 41"; (BOTTOM LINE) "NESCO"

The darker one is marked (TOP LINE) ICC 5 L; (CENTER LINE) "RHEEM"; (BOTTOM LINE) "20 - 5 - 45"

The can on the left looks like original paint, the one on the right looks much newer.

[FrankUSMC]

Great find! They are both real. The 1941 one is pre war, with the correct cap, you did good. Alot of equipment had little changes in them during the war to make them easier to make, or read, faster to make. Look at the Thompson sub machine gun, the pre war 1928 model and the M-1 war model.
Take care.
One of the few, Frank USMC RET