http://www.ebay.com/itm/281107381782
This vintage hat was made in the 1930s by the John B. Stetson company. It bears their “No. 1 Quality” designation. The dressweight felt has an unusual rose color. The liner is a complementary pink, with a highly detailed stamp. It was originally sold in Vinita, OK by “The Army Store”.
Size: 7-1/4
Brim Width: 3-1/8″
Crown Height: 6″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271206307932
This vintage fedora was made by Berg hats in the late 1920s or early 1930s. It has a stitched underwelt brim edge. It has a long bow with an intentionally frayed trailing edge, as was the style of the time. The other side has a very nice period styling detail, a twisted ribbon. Inside is a black leather sweatband, with a blind embossed “Berg” logo. The sweatband has finely spaced stitching, and a decoratively embossed top edge. While brown leather sweatbands became the norm in the 1930s-1950s, black sweatbands like this were relatively common in the 1920s. The leather is still wonderfully soft and supple. It has a taped rear sweatband seam, also a typical detail of the period. The hat was sold at D’Toggery Inc., of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Size: 7-1/4
Brim Width: 2-1/8″
Crown Height: 5-3/4″
Ribbon Width: 1-1/2″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271202829152
This vintage jacket was made by “Greyhound” in the late ’50s or early ’60s. The dating is a tad tricky to be exact on because of the unusual design of it. It has a four button front, moderately narrow lapels, with no buttonhole, yoked shoulders, and a working belted back. The belted back is a throwback to suit designs of the 1930s. This one adds a twist to it. It is stitched down in the back, but extends further up. The ends are free, and can be used to cinch the waist in by way of button adjusters.
Chest (pit to pit): 24″
Shoulder to shoulder: 21″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24-1/2″
Length ( base of collar to hem): 30″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271202863443
This jacket was made by Levi Strauss and Co.. It is a reproduction of their Type 1 denim jacket, produced from the turn of the century until it was supplanted by the Type II in 1956. It has a pleated front, single breast pocket, and buckle back. This one has a slider buckle instead of the pronged type like the original would have had. The denim is factory distressed, as are the buttons. The styling makes me think LVC repro, but the combination of the small “E” on the red tab, non selvedge denim, and the 70535-9954 model no. on the tag make me wonder if it might just be a short-lived reissue by the main branch of the company.
Chest (pit to pit): 24″
Shoulder to shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 26″
Length (Base of collar to hem): 25″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271198828888
This jacket is a high end reproduction of the “Grizzly” style jacket, popular in the mid 1930s. It was made by Toyo Enterprises, who make jackets for Buzz Rickson, Sugar Cane and Style Eyes. Accurate down to the last detail, it bears a reproduction of a 1930s “Lakeland” hang tag. It has “laskinlamb” mouton panels on the front and back, with a matching mouton collar. The sleeves and trim are horsehide leather. The idea of these jackets was to put the insulation on the outside so that the wearer could have an unobstructed range of motion. They were promoted heavily in an athletic context, promoted by football players, that sort of thing. This jacket is as near as you can get to walking into a store in 1934 and buying one. It has an early Hookless grommet zipper, and dot snap. The original tags are still on the jacket and include a nice reproduction piece to accompany that zip. The front of the jacket is belted, as are the sleeves. There is a snap chinstrap to cinch it up at the neck. Inside, the body has a plaid lining, while the sleeves are lined in brown twill. There are wool storm cuffs to keep the breeze from blowing up the sleeves.
Tagged size: 42
Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25-1/2″
Length (base of collar to hem): 26″
Waist: 20″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281101000703
This vintage leather jacket was made in the 1930s. It is a classic utility jacket style, with handwarmer pockets, a zip breast pocket, and a pleated half-belt back. At the ends of the half-belt are adjuster belts. The jacket is made of what feels like horsehide, though with the labels missing, it is impossible to be positive. The leather has a wonderful patina and grain. In the 1950s, this jacket received a new brass Talon Zipper and a reline. The replacement lining is an alpaca pile, and is also sewn to the top of the collar. The sleeves are nylon, with home-knitted cuffs. Unfortunately, there is a funky tooth near the bottom of the zipper, so while you can engage it, you can’t get it zipped up very far. That should be replaced, probably with one more era-appropriate.
Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length (bottom of collar to hem): 24″
Tom Mix, the king of the cowboys, was a fan of Hudson’s Bay blanket coats for decades of his career, wearing his in a variety of films as well as off the set.
The first picture I can find of him wearing one is in 1918, in the film Ace High. He seems to have worn the style for the next 20 years until his death. During this time, there were three coats that I have been able to track down. The first and the second one are the same pattern, with subtle differences in the way the stripes line up distinguishing the two. In particular, the stripes on the shoulder yoke are a giveaway. The earlier version had a dark stripe centered with the pockets, while the second version had a white stripe. There were also differences in the color of the belt loops, and how the stripes lined up with the pockets.
The second version was a departure. The overall cut is somewhat simplified, without the large bellows pockets. Notch lapels replace the shirt style collar of the first two. The edges are trimmed with sections of dark stripe, and a dark zig-zag stripe is sewn to the chest, an exaggerated version of the western scalloped yoke. I particularly like the multi-tonal arrows running down the sleeves. Like other elements on this coat, these are cut out from the different color fields of a blanket and applied to the coat, creating the unique pattern.
1918- Ace High.
1919 – The Wilderness Trail.
unknown date-
1923 – North of Hudson Bay
c.1926 – Though the same cut as the c.1918 version, the stripes line up noticeably differently, particularly in the shoulder yoke. On the earlier version, the dark stripe lines up with the center of the pocket. On this version, it is the light background stripe which is centered. This version appears to have a buckle on the belt instead of buttons. The stripes of the body line up differently with the pockets.
1928 – A different blanket coat comes onto the scene.
1930 – Nash Car ad. The old style coat is still in rotation, but this appears to be the second version of it. In this picture, another difference from the first version of the coat is visible- the belt loops. On the earlier version in the same cut, the belt loops are made of the white portion of the blanket. In this version, they are part of a dark stripe.
1931
Unknown Date
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271183858680
This jacket was made as part of Ralph Lauren’s high end RRL line. It draws obvious influence from workwear garments of the 1930s. It is a sleeved waistcoat design, with a snap front and buckle back. It is equal parts hunting mackinaw, railroad vest and Brown’s Beach jacket. It is unlined, and has taped seams. Snaps are marked Double R L.
Chest (pit to pit): 24″
Shoulder to shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (Shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (collar to hem): 27″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281082411382
This vintage shirt was made in the 1930s and sold by Gronfein and Schwartz of Butte, Montana. It is made from Silk Radium, a fabric popular from about 1905-1935. It was a specially treated silk, developed to be extremely light weight, marketed as a summer shirt. It was an extremely expensive shirting material, selling for about four times what a comparable cotton shirt would. The shirt is cut long in the body, with gusseted side seams. It has small mother of pearl buttons, and a long 3-3/8″ spearpoint collar.
Chest (pit to pit): 26″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 20″
Shoulder to cuff: 26-1/2″
Collar: 16-3/4″
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281078381329
This vintage shawl collar mackinaw was made under Montgomery Ward’s workwear label, Powr-House. This style was popular from the 1930s-1950s and the style remained basically unchanged during that time. It has a cotton shell, with a mouton collar and sheepskin lining. There are leather reinforcements at the corners of the pockets, and a throat latch under the shawl collar. The label and the quilted material in the sleeves make me think this is probably a ’50s version of the coat- earlier ones, while nearly identical on the exterior, would likely have had blanket wool linings in the sleeves. There is some light colored staining to the mouton collar, and at the bottom of the coat, some light colored staining, which cleaning has not been able to remove. The coat is labeled in the pocket as a size 42.
Chest (shoulder to shoulder): 24″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 20″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
