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Steve1989MREInfo
Born1989 or 1990 (age 34–35)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSteve1989
OccupationLandscaper
Known forEating old military rations
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2015–present
Genres
Subscribers2.1 million[1]
Total views382 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2016
1,000,000 subscribers2018
Last updated: 19 November 2023

Steven Thomas (born 1989 or 1990),[2][3] known online as Steve1989MREInfo, is an American YouTuber and military history commentator, best known for his YouTube video content in which he unboxes and eats military rations.[4]

Early and personal life

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Thomas's interest in military rations began as a youth in 1997 when his uncle purchased a case of Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) rations from a surplus store. The first ration Thomas ate from the case was a ham slice meal manufactured in 1993, which he ate cold because he did not know how to use the included flameless ration heater.[5]

Outside of YouTube, Thomas works as a landscaper in Lakeland, Florida.[3] Despite his interest in military rations, Thomas is not a military veteran.[3]

Internet career

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Thomas began his YouTube channel in November 2015. He first gained notoriety in January 2016 for a video in which he ate 61-year-old peanut butter from a Korean War-era C-ration.[6][7][8] Later that year, a video review of Thomas eating American Civil War-era hardtack from 1863 went viral.[9]

Thomas has reviewed both vintage and contemporary rations of several armed forces from around the world, including those from the American, British, Canadian, Russian, Ukrainian, Australian, Japanese, South Korean and Chinese militaries.[10][11][12] He has reviewed a variety of military chocolate, including the American World War II-era D-ration and Tropical Bar.[13][14] Thomas also reviews and smokes the cigarettes included in rations, the oldest being a 123-year-old cigarette dating to 1897.[15][16] Because many of the rations Thomas opens are extremely rare, he has stated that he will only open and review a ration once he has obtained a duplicate that will remain unopened in a private collection.[5]

Thomas' video voice-overs have gained traction within his subscriber community for their calm delivery, and signature catch-phrases such as "nice hiss" (referring to the sound sometimes made when opening hermetically sealed ration packages) and "Let's get this out onto a tray. Nice!" (referencing laying out the ration items onto a table, before hard-cutting to them neatly arranged on a mess kit).[17] He almost always ends his videos with the catchphrase, "This is Steve1989. I... hope you liked the video, and I'll be coming back at you with something new... or old. Alright, cool. See ya."

Complications

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Despite eating rations that are well beyond the recommended shelf life specified by manufacturers, Thomas has reported that he rarely becomes ill from eating them. As of 2023, he is only known to have become ill from two rations—a Ukrainian ration in 2015 (before his YouTube channel began), for which he was hospitalized for E. coli;[5] and a Chinese PLA Type 13 ration in 2019, which he harshly criticized while reviewing[18]—both of which were only one year old and in-date when he ate them. He has described a cheese spread from a 1985 MRE as "the grossest thing I've ever tasted, because it literally felt like fire. And bitterness."[3]

Thomas took a brief hiatus in mid-2020 after injuring tendons in his right arm, according to his pinned YouTube comment in the comments section of his then-most-recent video. He made the video as soon as the brace was removed from his arm.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "About Steve1989MREInfo". YouTube.
  2. ^ Krishna, Priya (June 8, 2021). "Unloved by Generations of Soldiers, the M.R.E. Finds a Fan Base". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Molly Fitzpatrick (March 17, 2017). "Why Millions of People Watch This YouTuber Eat 50-Year-Old Rations". GQ. Retrieved July 26, 2019. The 27-year-old Lakeland, Florida resident...
  4. ^ Anna Dubenko and Michelle L. Dozois (March 3, 2017). "13 Great Stories That Have Nothing to Do With Politics". New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Sonia van Gilder Cooke (February 3, 2017). "I eat vintage military rations". Financial Times. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  6. ^ Wyatt Marshall (January 24, 2016). "This Dude Ate the Oldest Peanut Butter Ever". VICE. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  7. ^ Claire Lomas (January 22, 2016). "Watch YouTuber eat 61-year-old Korean War-era ration pack". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  8. ^ Eric Limer (January 21, 2016). "What It's Like to Eat a 60-Year-Old Military Ration". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  9. ^ Charley Lanyon (February 24, 2017). "I Can't Stop Watching This Guy Eat Decades-Old Army Rations". VICE. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  10. ^ Steve Ricker (February 8, 2017). "Join me in the delight of watching a very polite man eat 70-year-old military food". The Verge. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  11. ^ Ella Morton (May 2, 2016). "The Combat Ration Collectors Who Eat Decades-Old Military Meals". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  12. ^ Bryan Menegus (July 7, 2016). "Russian Special Forces Rations Include Brain Pâté, Among Other Things". Gizmodo. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  13. ^ Charley Lanyon (January 4, 2019). "This is what the Army's nasty 'emergency chocolate bars' tasted like". We Are the Mighty. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  14. ^ Perry Chiaramonte (May 5, 2017). "K-Rations meet Fear Factor: Online groups sample, review MREs from WWII to present day". Fox News. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  15. ^ "Watch This Guy Smoke 74-Year-Old Cigarettes From A World War II K-Ration". Task & Purpose. May 16, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  16. ^ Steve1989MREInfo (September 2, 2020). 1945 RAF Emergency Rations & 1900 British Perfectly Preserved Tin Review MRE Tasting Test. YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Kim, Eddie (January 22, 2020). "The Guy Making ASMR Out of Military Rations Is a Respite From Uncertain War". MEL Magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2024..
  18. ^ Steve1989MREInfo (April 2, 2019). 2018 Chinese PLA Type 13 MRE Individual Self Heating Meal Ready to Eat Worst Ration Taste Testing. YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Steve1989MREInfo (July 4, 2020). 1993 US MRE Smoked Frankfurters Review Vintage Meal Ready to Eat Tasting Test. YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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