Californian leather Norfolk Jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281277761040
This vintage leather jacket was made by the California Sportswear Company of Los Angeles, California under the Californian label. It takes heavy stylistic cues from the Norfolk jackets of the 1910s and 1920s. The jacket has two breast pocket flaps with chest pleats, a full attached belt, flapped hip pockets, and a pleated back with a scaloped yoke. The jacket is fully lined.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (base of collar to hem): 29″

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Rio Algom Mine Rescue leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271416118834
This leather jacket was made in the 1980s by Bristol Leather and Sportswear company of Montreal, Canada. It bears a patch of the Rio Algom mining company, who owned and operated Uranium mines through Canada. The patch is for the Rio Algom Mine Rescue squad, and has an image of a miner wearing a hard hat.

Chest (pit to pit): 23-1/2″ (doubled = 47″)
Sleeve (center of collar to cuff: 34″
Length (base of collar to hem): 24″

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1930s Grommet Zipper half-belt leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281272035995
This vintage leather jacket was made in the mid 1930s. It is made from capeskin leather, rough side out. As was typical of these early-mid 1930s lightweight half-belt windbreaker styles, this one is unlined. It has an riveted “grommet” Talon zipper, a style which was produced from the early-mid 1930s, before being joined, then replaced by the deco “sunburst” style stopbox. The slider is an early style, with rays on the slider, a small hole puller, and an attachment section which is more oval shaped than those produced later in the 1930s. The jacket is a waist length Cossack style, and has a fancy pleated, belted back with side adjuster belts.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Shoulder to shoulder: 16-3/4″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 26″
Length (base of collar to hem): 21″

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1920s Drybak hunting coat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271403958670
This vintage hunting jacket was made in the late 1920s or 1930s. From the details, it’s likely this coat was made by Drybak. The coat is made of densely woven brown canvas, with a corduroy collar and cuffs. There are handwarmer pockets, cargo pockets and closed bottom shell loops. The shoulders are reinforced, and there is an internal buttoned game pouch. These unlined game pockets are typical of the earlier production hunting jackets. Models from the 1930s and on generally had some sort of waterproof lining. The arm panel forms a gusset for a greater range of motion. The underarms have four ventilation grommets each.

Chest (pit to pit): 26″ (doubled = 52″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 20″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 22″
Length (base of collar to hem): 27″

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Drybak “The Feather”

This vintage hunting jacket was made by Drybak in the 1940s. It is made of their “The Feather” lightweight canvas, and has a ton of great detailing. The handwarmer pockets form both the pocket flaps for the cargo pockets as well as covers for the shotgun shell loops. The cargo pockets are saddlebag style to allow for expansion when full. The jacket has a belted action back. The shoulders are a double layer of canvas for extra reinforcement. The collar is corduroy and has a flap and strap on the back which buttons down – a sort of half-hood to keep the elements out when the collar is flipped up. The bottom panel of the sleeve is extended to form the panel which would usually be a football shaped gusset. The game pouch buttons open, has scovill snaps to extend it, bellows-style, and bell shaped Conmar zippers to open it fully for easier loading, unloading and cleaning.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length: 30″

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1940s green Maine Guide blanket coat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281267936264
This vintage coat was made by Congress Sportswear under the “Maine Guide” label just after the end of WWII. The coat is made from green wool blanket fabric, in a four pocket, zipper front style. The zipper is of the mid to late 1940s design, with a square cornered puller, and a “Talon” marked stopbox. The tag is of Maine Guide’s pre-1947 design. The coat is mostly unlined save for the shoulders. It has shirt style cuffs.

Maine Guide was known for its elaborate Hudson’s Bay point blanket cots. This one is simplified and does not bear the HBC label, but putting it side by side with the other green Maine Guide coat I have currently, the two are nearly identical. Maine Guide made heavy use of the black stripe portion of their blankets for trim. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had this slightly simplified line to make use of the surplus background blanket wool.

Chest (pit to pit): 24″ (doubled = 48″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24-1/2″
Length (base of collar to hem): 30″

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Powr House denim chore jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271403761369
This vintage denim jacket was sold by Montgomery Ward under their Powr House workwear label. The denim has a wonderful fade to it. The jacket is a classic chore coat design, with four front pockets and an interior pocket. With the exception of the cuffs, the design seems nearly identical to a Lee 91-J. With Powr House as a house brand, it’s possible MW contracted out to Lee to make this run of jackets. There is a union tag in the breast pocket, but it is faded to the point of illegibility.

Chest (pit to pit): 26″ (double = 52″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 20″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23-1/2″
Length (base of collar to hem): 31″

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1950s Deerskin leather half-belt jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281263966868
This vintage leather jacket was made from deerskin, probably in the late 1950s or 1960s. I have had this exact pattern of jacket before, but with a zipper front instead of the button front which this one sports. The other one had a mid 1950s Conmar zipper. However, many of these small deerskin jacket tailors kept the same exact pattern for years, so it could well go into the 1960s. With that said, it’s a button front, surcoat length halfbelt. It has slash handwarmer pockets and flapped cargo pockets, and has two zipper closure pockets on the chest. The back has a subtly western scalloped yoke and a half-belt.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″
Shoulder to shoulder: 18-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 26″
Length: 31-1/2″

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Mid 1930s half-belt leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271391483127
This vintage leather jacket was made in the mid 1930, probably in Wisconsin judging by the materials and construction. It is an early half-belt / cossack style. It can be dated to this point both by style and by hardware. By style: In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a full leather waistband was prevalent. The fancy belted back started to gain traction in the mid 1930s, but the front still retained the bottom panels found on this jacket. By the end of the 1930s, most makers had abandoned these panels for a cleaner look. Stylistically this dates from that middle period. By hardware: The full length separable zipper was first found on jackets made 1930. The “sunburst” deco Talon stopbox found on this jacket joined the riveted style stopbox around the midpoint of the decade, eventually supplanting it in Talon’s product line, before disappearing itself in the early 1940s. So that narrows the date down between about 1935 and 1942. The snaps are made by United Carr. These are of a style which I have not seen on anything beyond the mid 1930s, with the spring section of the fastener appearing on the male side of the snap.
This jacket has been worn extremely hard. The cuffs and collar have been worn through, and a hole has been worn through on the side. That was repaired what looks like some decades ago, but the repair has worn out as well. The lining is missing, and the zipper is missing both the slider and the bottom couple inches of the teeth and tape on the male side. There is paint on the skirt beneath the belt.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length: 26″

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Fringed suede leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271378703217
This vintage leather jacket was custom tailored in Hong Kong by James S. Lee & Co, Ltd. for Lawrence J Gintner. It was probably made in the 1970s, and is brown suede, in a mod double breasted cut with ticket pocket. The back yoke and sleeves are fringed. The jacket has a blue and brown paisley lining. It has double vents.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23″
Length: 27-1/2″

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