The colvinex flight suit was a one piece goatskin coverall electrically heated flight suit. Great for cold weather flying in WWII and Korea, not so great as surplus. Not a lot of call for the average joe for something as specialized as these. So out come the electrical coils, and out come the scissors, needle and thread. I’ve run across quite a few examples of these that were cut down post war for casual or motorcycle use, and each does it a bit differently.
This Pilgrim Carlsbad was available mail-order throughout the 1930s and 1940s. With the quality of the trimmings on this one, I’d say it’s probably from the 1930s. It’s a big, curled brim cowboy hat, tom mix creased. And wool felt- this was a budget hat- a working man’s hat.
This old Boy Scouts scoutmaster hat has shrunk up to almost nothing. That’s just what wool felt does when it gets wet, and why, if you can, you should buy fur felt. But what a band. Hand tooled (wonder if someone got a merit badge for that?) with a roller buckle.
Without the sweatband, it’s pretty much impossible to date the hat itself, other than to say “old”.
Blue fur felt with decorative spiral stitching, rope trim, welted brim edge, thin leather sweatband, silkscreened crown with sporting scenes.
Wide brim, tall crown, thin ribbon, super thin floppy felt. Sort of a sign of things to come- a shift away from the curled brims and wider ribbons.
Unlined with silkscreened crown logo. Lots of imprints on the sweatband.
Here’s an unusual piece: a 1920s Tuxedo, with Jazz Suit styling. It has a square cut bottom, extremely high closure, cuffed sleeves and satin lapels. Great typeface on the label, too.
This French Canvas coat is dated 1948. While it is only a size 2, it is roughly tent-sized. The extremely long belt allows it to be cinched down to more-or-less any size.
This one dates smack-dab in the World War II period. It has the union jack and an English Bulldog on the liner. This is deadstock from a Canadian source.
Another deadstock cap, this time from a Canadian source. Really evocative graphics on the lining, and a nice bold herringbone tweed.
This cap is deadstock and still has the original tissue paper inside. It has a white leather sweatband and a removable lining, making it more comfortable for year-round wear. These old caps don’t survive nearly as well as felt hats of the era. These were more popular as sporting hats, or with the working class. They were inexpensive, they were treated rough and they were thrown out. Most deadstock you see is in smaller sizes- the ones that were harder to sell.
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