Battered A-2

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281204190634
This vintage A-2 leather flight jacket was made during the 1940s. It has a spring-loaded zipper introduced in 1943 by Crown. This type, with “two-way” teeth, was designed exclusively for the military with larger versions finding their way onto the turrets of bombers to keep the wind out. Featuring this late-war military zipper, the jacket may have been private purchase. Snaps are of a ball style, and were made by Rau of Providence, Rhode Island, and have exposed backs. Pockets have nicely scalloped flaps, with the size tag stitched on the inside. The collar is long and pointed, and is attached directly to the body of the jacket The leather jacket hanger is off-center, stitched with “X” style stitching. The jacket has a khaki liner, which is in very good shape. Unfortunately, the original tag is long since missing.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to end of knit cuff): 24-1/2″
Length (base of collar to end of knit cuff): 23″

Also see: https://vintagehaberdashers.com/2013/03/08/original-a2-leather-jacket/

Guiterman Bros 1930s Town and Country leather jacket

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271307079241
This vintage leather jacket was made in the early to mid 1930s by Guiterman Brothers, under the Town and Country label. The company was founded in 1883, and began the “Town and Country” line in 1904. They produced flying coats for US aviators during World War One, and pioneered early civilian leather jacket designs starting in the 1910s. In c. 1928, the company was bought out by Gordon and Ferguson, who continued the line. This jacket as a rare early example of a button-front Cossack jacket. Early Cossack jackets, c. 1930-c.1934 generally featured leather waistband and plain backs. This is an early example of the transitional style, retaining the collar, cuff and pocket detailing from the early jackets, but moving away into what would become the half-belt jackets of the later 1930s-1950s. The back is belted, with bi-swing shoulders and side adjusters. The front still has an old style button front, instead of a hookless zipper. The jacket buttons right over left, which, along with the shoulder darts, identify this as a women’s jacket. Other than these details, early on, men’s and women’s styles were generally extremely similar patterns. As was typical of many of these early jackets, this one is made with the suede side out. For jackets of this style, it wasn’t until later in the 1930s that weight started to become a major concern. These were really designed as lightweight leather windbreakers for sporting activities. Gordon and Ferguson had the exclusive rights to the Cravenette process for leather, and it is employed on this one.

Chest (pit to pit): 20″
Shoulder to shoulder: 16-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length: 23″

Ad from 1934.

Ad from 1935

Score Sportswear blue leather cafe racer

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271307306053
This vintage leather jacket was made in Toronto by either Score Sporting Goods of by its successor, Shields Sportswear. Without the label, it’s hard to say which incarnation of Harry and Lorne Shields’s company made it. The jacket has the interesting collar of this maker- a short rounded stand collar with a single-snap chinstrap. Most makers made the snap tab as an extension of the collar stand, rather than a second piece. The separate chinstrap is more of a holdover from 1930s leather jacket design. Side adjuster belts are another early style holdover found on this design. The elbows are reinforced with a second layer of leather. There are zip sleeves to keep wind and dust out when riding. Zippers are mismatched, with Canadian made Acme and Lightning zips on the pockets and sleeves respectively. The front zipper is a replacement, with a YKK tape and a vintage Talon slider. The lining is long since missing. The blue leather of this jacket sets it apart in a sea of black and brown leather jackets, as if the distinctive and rugged design wasn’t enough.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length: 23-1/2″

Gibson and Barnes A-2

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281195687466
This is an older Gibson & Barnes reproduction of a WWII Army Air Corps A-2 flight jacket. It is made of heavy russet brown leather, with dark brown knits. The pockets are authentic patch style, not the hand-warmer style they are currently using. The jacket has a one piece back. The jacket has a Scovill Gripper Zipper and Scovill snaps. The tag is long since missing, but the cut, detailing, hardware, and liner color and material identify it as an older G&B.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to end of knit cuff): 25″
Length (to end of knit waistband): 24″

East West Musical Instruments style leather jacket

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271306455788
This vintage leather jacket was made in the late 1960s – 1970s time frame, and is one of the coolest from that era I’ve seen in a long time. The western pictorial theme, with a desert landcape and a bird (or is that a “Gilded Palace of Sin” era Sneaky Pete pterodactyl?) put me in mind of Nudie’s rodeo tailors. The western yoking and brass studs on the front further that western theme. This style of jacket was pioneered by California’s “East West Musical Instruments” although this jacket isn’t nearly as complex as most of their output. There’s no, or evidence that there was one, so who actually made the jacket is a bit of a mystery. There is a standard style for the era “Medium” size tag. My guess would be it was made by a small custom leather shop. The jacket is leather, sewn rough-out. It has a snap front.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″ (doubled = 42″)
Waist: 18″ (doubled = 36″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length: 22″

Mid-Western Sport Togs deerskin jacket

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271306482905
This vintage jacket was made by Mid-Western Sport Togs, of Berlin, Wisconsin, probably in the early 1960s. It is a western style, with a fringed hem, sleeves and yoke. The jacket is made of deerskin. At some point, the original buttons were changed out for the current metal eagle buttons.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 22″
Length (not including fringe): 25″

New Jersey Frozen Foods custom leather jacket

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271277523946
This vintage leather jacket was made in the 1950s. It has a classic casual cut, sportcoat length. The jacket has a scaloped yoke on the back, which, along with the horseshoe belt buckle give the jacket an under-the-radar western vibe. The jacket has a button-on belt. Many jackets of this length from the 1930s-1950s had button on belts like this, but lost them over the years, it’s uncommon to find one still paired with the belt. There are two breast pockets which fasten with Conmar chain zippers. The main zipper is also a Conmar. The jacket’s label reads “Custom Made Deerskin Sportswear, New Jersey Frozen Foods, Inc., Morristown, NJ”. Somewhat of an unusual firm to be making leather jackets, but similarity to other leather jacket maker’s patterns make me think that it was produced by a third party factory, probably one of the Wisconsin deerskin jacket factories and sold by NJFF. The jacket is fully lined, with a material change about half-way down.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff):25-12″
Length: 32″

Early 1940s half-belt leather jacket

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271264162910
This vintage leather jacket was made in the early 1940s. Unfortunately, the maker’s tag is long gone, but it can be fairly accurately dated using other details. In one of the pockets is a union tag from the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The last digit of the tag is mis-printed, but I believe it’s a 1939 tag, not a 1936. This puts the dating between 1939, when that tag first came into usage, and 1949, when it was replaced by a different design. The zipper is a spring loaded crown zipper, of the type used in the early 1940s, notably on several contracts of Army Air Force A-2 flight jackets. That narrows the dating from about 1939 to 1945.

The leather, still nicely soft and supple, has developed a nice fade and patina from its original russet brown color through decades of wear. The wear is heaviest on the neck of the collar, the hem and the cuffs. The jacket’s design is a classic: half belt back with side belt adjusters. The back has pleats to bring it in at the waist. On the front, there are two small flapped pockets, with double stitching to give them the look of patch pockets. Above them are buttoned, vertical chest pockets. The pockets are lined in a soft cotton flannel, and are presumably designed as hand-warmers. The body of the jacket is lined with plaid cotton in cream, blue and brown, and the sleeves in plain cotton.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (base of collar to hem): 28″

Sears Topline leather jacket

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281154512089
This vintage leather jacket was made for Sears under the short lived “Topline Men’s Wear” line. I have only been able to find ads for that particular line from the wartime years, early-mid 1940s. The jacket is a classic half-belt style. It has dual vertical chest pockets. The back has a half-belt. The buttons on either side of the belt indicate that when it was new, it probably had a button-on full belt. As with this one, most jackets that were so equipped had the belts discarded decades ago. The jacket is made of supple capeskin, which has been worn to a soft patina. The jacket has a quilted lining. The jacket fastens with a transitional Talon zipper. The pull is of the small-holed variety seen in the late 1930s and early 1940s, while the stop-box is a design seen more often in the mid through late 1940s.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length: 27″

Campus Sportswear horsehide leather jacket

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281154565976
This jacket was made in the late ’40s-mid 1950s timeframe by Campus Sportswear. It is made of horsehide in a classic half-belt utility jacket design that was popular from the 1930s-1950s. This one brings a bit of a ’50s twist to the design in the form of the swooping stitching/welt running up the front of the jacket. The jacket has slash handwarmer pockets, a zipped breast pocket, and adjuster belts on the sides. It has a brass Talon zipper of the design introduced in the late 1940s. The jacket has a quilted lining.

Chest (pit to pit): 22-1/2″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23-1/2″
Length: 25″

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Category Archives: Leather

Battered A-2

Guiterman Bros 1930s Town and Country leather jacket

Score Sportswear blue leather cafe racer

Gibson and Barnes A-2

East West Musical Instruments style leather jacket

Mid-Western Sport Togs deerskin jacket

New Jersey Frozen Foods custom leather jacket

Early 1940s half-belt leather jacket

Sears Topline leather jacket

Campus Sportswear horsehide leather jacket