The Frangible Grenade M1[1] was a specially designed factory produced molotov cocktail created by the United States in 1942 as it entered World War II (1939–1945).
It was designed to provide lightly armed personnel (self-defense militias, soldiers, commandos, and Allied partisans) with simple, uncomplicated weapons that were easy to mass-produce.
In late December 1941 the United States entered into World War II with an unprepared military, low stocks of arms and munitions, and fears of attack or invasion by the Axis Powers.
To counter this looming threat, a series of Molotov cocktail-style devices, nominally designated as "grenades", were developed in early 1942.
The grenades were packed in cheap cardboard boxes filled with sawdust that were marked with the proper chemical warning stickers to alert personnel handling, loading, and transporting them.