World War II Leftovers Get New Life
Today is just a short feature – we ran across this cart made from Marsden matting, sitting behind our favorite breakfast spot Casa Linda. Marsden matting gets a new and useful life.
Spotted outside Casa Linda Pension in Puerto Princesa, Palawan – another use for Marsden matting, that World War II leftover. This time, the steel plates are fashioned into a cart.
Marsden matting is the name of the perforated steel plates used for building airplane runways very quickly during World War II. At the end of the war, the runways were left behind, and creative Filipinos salvaged the material to use for fences, walls, and sheds. The high quality steel has stood the test of time. Throughout the Philippines, remnants of those runways can be seen. Fences from Marsden matting are common sights. This is the first Marsden matting cart I’ve seen.
Cool! So that’s what they’re called.
I know! You see that stuff everywhere. I was excited to learn what it was called and learn more about it, too!
That is so cool! It is the ultimate in recycling and up-cycling. I bet that cart will hold up better than anything sold at the local Home Centers.
I imagine so, Lianne. If that steel has already been around 60 years, it will probably hang in there for another dozen years or two!