1910s “The Gem” Special hunting vest

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281337853385
This vintage hunting vest was made by the Gem Shirt Company of Dayton, Ohio in the 1910s. The Gem Shirt Co. was founded c.1888, and diversified into canvas hunting clothes in the early part of the 20th century, innovating the usage of lined waterproof game bags. They were a high end maker at the time, making their products from an excellent grade of cotton canvas duck. They ceased production by the 1920s.
The vest has 37 closed bottomed reinforced corduroy shotgun shell pockets on the front of the vest. The corduroy material is somewhat unusual, a nice early detail. The back is belted, but instead of the usual vest style central belt and buckle arrangement, this one has double side adjuster belts. It has Southwick buckles, a type patented in 1906, also used on some DuxBak vests of the period. It has an early black and yellow label, which identifies this model as the “Special”, made for “Outers and Hunters”. The grouse on the label is carried through onto the figural buttons. They are removable ring-back, of the type common on workwear of the period.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Length (front): 24″
Length (rear): 19″

For another vest made by “The Gem”, see here. A comparison of the two is below.

Patent no 819,180, as found on the back of the buckle. Patented May 1, 1906

The logo for “The Gem” was trademarked in 1911, although it had been in use since 1888. The label on this vest reads “Registered”, dating it after 1911.

Ad for “The Gem” from 1912

The Gem Hunting Coat, 1917

1918. Guiterman Bros Town and Country vest, Gem Hunting Coat and a Springfield Rifle

1923. Gem Hunting Vests and coats. This is the last I can find on the company.

1920s high-neck buckle-back hunting vest

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271491035755
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1920s. It is made from canvas, with thirty four closed bottomed shotgun shell loops. It has a high necked closure to keep out the elements, similar to the Browns Beach vests of the period, which were also designed for hunting. The vest has a buckle back. An ink-stamped canvas tag identifies this as a size 40.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Length: 19-1/2″

1920s Red Head Hunting vest

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271478366338
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1920s by the Red Head Brand, a premier maker of hunting garments at the time. It is an early style, high buttoning cut, with a six button front. It has canvas, closed bottomed shotgun shell loops, another hallmark of earlier manufacture hunting vests. There are loops for 38 shotgun shells on the front, and loops for another 23 on the back.
This has the earliest Red Head brand label I have yet to see. It is significantly larger than later labels, with a much more detailed duck. It reads Trade Mark Registered at the top, while labels from the 1930s and early 1940s read , “reg. us. pat. off”, and ones from the mid-late 1940s had the (R) symbol.

Chest (pit to pit):19″ (doubled = 38″)

1920s shotgun shell canvas hunting vest

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271469007778
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1920s. It is made of brown canvas, with a five button front. There is a buttonhole at the back of the neckline, which I have not seen before on other vests. I wonder if it was there to attach something to the vest (or the vest to something else, like a jacket), or if it was there to hang the vest by? The vest has closed bottomed, canvas shotgun shell loops, which are typical of these early manufacture vests. At some point the vest was taken in, then let back out. The front buttons have been moved slightly from their original position to make the vest a smidge larger. Since garments like this were purely utilitarian, it wouldn’t be uncommon for them to be passed down from one generation to the next. I wonder if these modifications were made as the original owner lost and put on weight, or if they were done for a different owner?

Chest (pit to pit): 18-1/2″ (doubled = 37″)
Length: 19-1/2″

Hirsch Weiss White Stag hunting vest

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271449005161
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1950s by The White Stag Mfg. Co of Portland, Oregon. It has knit shotgun loops on the front, a breast pocket, and a four button front.

Chest (pit to pit): 22-1/2″ (doubled = 45″)
Length: 21″

Active Sportswear Hunting Vest

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281306020882
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1950s. It was sold by Sears under the Active sportswear label. Due to similarity in design and construction to their product, I would guess that this was made under contract by the Empire Mfg. Co. It has two large cargo pockets on the front with shotgun shell loops inside. There is a game pouch on the back.

Chest (pit to pit): 21-1/2″ (doubled =43″)
Length: 24-3/4″

1940s Hettrick American Field Half Moon Vest

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281294869181
This vintage vest was made in the 1940s by the Hettrick Mfg. Co. of Toldeo, Ohio. It is what is now known as a “half-moon” style, named after its round game pocket access on the front. This vest was intended for flyfishers, and has a fly rod loop to hold your rod and a multitude of pockets. It is made of green canvas. Wear to canvas. Missing fly pad. Period repair to back

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Length: 19″

Advertisements for this model from 1940s Hettrick Mfg. Co. catalogs.

1930s Red Head half moon hunting / fishing vest

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271420560900
This vest was made in the 1930s by Red Head Brand and was sold by the R.S. Elliott Arms Co. of Kansas City, MO. This style has come to be known as a half-moon hunting vest, after its pass through pocket. Period advertisements generally referred to this style as a sleeveless jacket rather than as a vest. This one has pleated, flapped patch pockets on the front and back, as well as two patch pockets on the lining. The half-moons pass through to the roomy internal game pocket, which closes with a button.

Chest (pit to pit): 22-1/2″ (doubled = 45″)
Length: 27″

1920s Canvasback hunting vest

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271420576862
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1920s by Canvasback It is an early, high buttoning style, with 54 closed-bottomed canvas shotgun shell pockets. The bottom tier of pockets loops all the way around the back and sides of the vest. The label is worn, but has a great graphic of a canvasback duck, with the slogan, “King Of Them All”.

Chest (pit to pit): 18-1/2″
Length: 18″

1930s – 1940s Hercules sheeplined work vest

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271418501090
This vintage work vest was sold by Sears under their Hercules workwear label in the late 1930s or early 1940s. It predates the (R) on the label which would come after WWII. It has a high necked cut favored by work vests due to the greater warmth and protection it offered. The vest has two pockets and a full sheepskin lining. Construction and materials are similar to the shawl collared sheepskin mackinaws sold by Hercules at the same period.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″
Length: 22″

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