The war of the scatolettas: material culture and canned food among the soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in Italy

ABSTRACT This article utilizes a bibliographic review and memorial works to discuss the use of canned foods among Brazilians, especially soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force campaigning in Italy during World War II. More than that, it shows that the object itself, the tin can, received new and different uses by the troops, attesting to its material agency power. For such, this paper used mainly the work of archeologist Nicole Boivin concerning the physicality of things and the theory of agency of matter, demonstrating that objects may exert influence over society and human evolution. This paper also historicizes the daily life of these men, showing the comprehensiveness of canned foods in their diets at a time when this type of food still had limited use in Brazil, as well as the uses that were attributed to such objects, sometimes different from the ones originally intended. Thus, a brief overview of the trajectory of cannery is traced, focusing on Brazil and on the United States, where they (at least partially) symbolized food abundance and the industrial power of this latter country. The selected period was predominantly short, following the notion of event as thought out by Braudel. Lastly, considerable iconography related to the American cannery used by Brazilians during the war was employed.