Tag Archives: 1936
1930s Albert Richard Grizzly jacket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281655706660
This vintage jacket was made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Fried Ostermann between 1936 and 1938 under the Albert Richard Sportswear label. The jacket is made of front quarter horsehide leather, with mouton panels and collar. Originally sold as a “Laskinlamb jacket”, this style has come to be known by collectors as the Grizzly. These were popular in the mid to late 1930. The jacket has Albert Richard’s patented Tu-Length cuffs, which have buttons on either side, allowing them to be worn down for a longer sleeve or turned up and buttoned for a shorter sleeve length. The jacket has a Talon main zipper with a grommet style stopbox. The slider is of the deco sunburst design with oval slider-to-puller connection, which was only produced in the mid 1930s and which was replaced by a simpler design around 1938. The pull is a rectangular holed, plain backed version, also typical of mid 1930s production. The jacket is lined with plaid wool, with leather pit guards and ventilation grommets. The sleeves have knit storm cuffs to keep out the wind. The collar has a buttoned chinstrap throat latch to cinch it up tight in bad weather.
Chest (pit to pit): 20″ (doubled = 40″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff, turned down): 26″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff, turned up): 24″
Length (Base of collar to hem): 21-1/2″
A history of Albert Richard which I wrote for “The Art of Vintage Leather Jackets”:
Fried-Ostermann was founded c.1902 as a glove manufacturer. They bought out their competitor, Price Gloves, and relocated production of that company’s products to their original factory, located at 617-645 Reed Street, Milwaukee, WI. By 1915, the company had gained a partner, and was known as the Fried, Ostermann, Meyer Co, but that looks to only have lasted until 1917. As the company grew, they relocated to 1645 S. 2nd Street, Milwaukee, WI.
Fried-Ostermann diversified out of gloves and into outerwear in the late 1920s with the formation of a new division of the company, called Albert Richard. The leather jackets, mackinaws, overcoats and sportswear produced by Albert Richard would soon come to eclipse the glove-making side of the company.
Pre-war advertising stressed health and sports, with endorsements from college football players. These ads also talk about bringing items of clothing which were previously thought of as workwear, like mackinaws and leather jackets, into the realm of ordinary streetwear, citing their comfort and durability.
During WWII, the Albert Richard factory made A-2 (contract AC 23383), M-422A (contract 1406A), M444A and M445A flight jackets under the name of their parent company, Fried-Ostermann. They advertised leather jackets, overcoats and sportswear heavily during WWII, giving their jackets model names like the “Spitfire” and the “Meteor”. During the war, the company gave away wall-sized posters showing a range of american military airplanes.
850 workers were employed by Albert r in 1946, with plans to hire another 400. The company was one of the first to use fiberglass insulation in coats, a technology borrowed from b-29 bombers Sheepskin collared “storm coats” became a signature model after the war.
President of Fried-Ostermann, Richard Fried, sold their Albert Richard Division to the Drybak corporation of Binghampton, NY in late 1952. Drybak, a maker of canvas hunting clothing was looking to diversify their line. In the deal, they got the licensing, branding, patterns, dealership network, but other than the Vice President and designer for Albert Richard, all of the employees and equipment stayed at the plant in Milwaukee. Fried-Osterman re-focused the attention of their plant on the production of gloves, and on producing leather jackets under house labels for mail order and department stores.
Starting in 1953, under Drybak’s ownership, Albert Richard clothing was once again produced, this time under contract at a factory in New Jersey, which Drybak declined to name. The plan at that time was to have production moved to New York by 1954. Labels were changed in this period to read “Albert Richard by Drybak”. In 1955, Drybak acquired the Martin Mfg. Co. in Martin, TN. They closed their Binghamton operations in that same year and relocated their hunting clothing manufacturing and their Albert Richard division to the Tennessee plant to take advantage of the lower labor costs in the south.
1930s-early 1940s Bond double breasted overcoat
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271820455903
This vintage overcoat was made in the 1930s-early 1940s by Bond Clothes. It is made of black herringbone wool, is double breasted, with wide peaked lapels and a breast pocket. The coat is fully lined, and bears either a 1936 or 1939 Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Union label.
Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 19″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length (base of collar to hem): 40″
c. 1935 Congress Sportswear half-zip, half button point blanket mackinaw coat
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271624812561
This vintage coat was made c.1935 by Congress Sportswear and would likely have been sold under the “Maine Guide” label. This is a highly unusual and short lived style produced by Congress, with a half-zip, half-button front. The bottom half zipped up with a Talon grommet zipper, and the top with a 3×6 double breasted closure, which can be buttoned closed, buttoned like coat lapels, or open like 19th century military uniforms. The coat has a zip hood, which can be folded up and snapped (with early United Carr snaps) to form a collar. The coat is unlined, as is typical of these early mackinaw coats, and has taped seams.
The coat is readily identifiable as a Congress Sportswear product by several details. Congress was one of the only manufacturers to produce this half-and-half style, but details, like the un-hemmed bottom edge, and the contrast pocket trim and cuff adjusters are unique to Maine Guide products. These coats were produced by Congress for several other house labels, namely Abercombie and Fitch.
The coat is made from Hudson’s Bay Company point blanket, with a 1930s label. This fabric was, at the time, one of the most expensive wool fabrics available for high-end outdoors garments. The zipper is identifiable as being manufactured in the mid 1930s by its bell shape, the deco rays found both on the slider and the pull and by the oval shaped attachment piece between the slider and pull, which had been replaced by the later 1930s by a square sided bersion. The grommets of the grommet zipper, as well as the primitive stop-box, are still in place, although the current zipper, slightly shorter than the original, can be identified as a later production model Talon by its rounded edged pull and stop-box design.
Chest (pit to pit): 24″ (doubled = 48″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length (Base of collar to hem): 36-1/2″
1930s Woolrich 255 plaid coat
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281399908235
This vintage jacket was made in the mid to late 1930s by the Woolrich Woolen Mills of Woolrich, PA. This is the rare 255 model, with caped shoulders, handwarmers with D-pocket stitching and flapped cargo pockets. It has exposed buttons and a rear game pouch. The coat, in keeping with many early mackinaw coats, is unlined.
Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (Base of collar to hem): 29″
1930s Red Hudson’s Bay point blanket coat
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281399895994
This vintage coat was made c. 1937 from Hudson’s Bay Company point blankets. The coat is a classic late 1930s double breasted mackinaw cut, with flapped patch cargo pockets and slash handwarmers with arrow reinforcement stitching. The back has a scalloped yoke and pleated back. The cuffs have buttoned adjusters. Inside are two different styles of Hudson’s Bay label, which help with the dating.
Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (base of collar to hem): 35″
1930s Californian grommet zipper leather vest
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281350515618
This vintage leather vest was made by the California Sportswear Company of Los Angeles under their Californian label in the mid to late 1930s. It has an early Talon Hookless style grommet zipper and a chain and ring style Talon zip on the breast pocket, with the early style slider with the Talon script. These date it from around 1935-1938. It bears the famous Californian rising sun label, and has side adjuster belts, like those found on Californian’s half-belt leather jackets of the same period.
Chest (pit to pit): 20″ (doubled = 40″)
Length: 17-3/4″
1930s capeskin half-belt cossack jacket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271469478475
This vintage leather jacket was made around 1936. It is made of lightweight capeskin leather, with a perforated Ostrich grain texture, popular briefly in 1936 and 1937. The jacket is an early cossack style, with a leather waistband and D-stitched pockets. The back is belted, with side adjusters, and is pleated. Cuffs are adjustable with two buttons. The jacket has an early Talon riveted “grommet” zipper, a style which started production in 1930, and continued through the 1930s. This one is missing its original slider, though at this date of manufacturer, it probably had a Talon branded fantail style slider. The jacket has a transitional half-lining. While it is constructed like the unlined leather jackets of the early 1930s, it is lined in the shoulders and sleeves. The lining remains, but it has shredded at most of the points where it attaches to the leather itself.
Chest (pit to pit): 20″ (doubled = 40″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 16-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 24″
Length (base of collar to hem):22″
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″
Mid 1930s Hyde Park overcoat
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281263922267
This vintage overcoat was made by Hyde Park Clothes sometime between 1936 and 1938, and was sold by one of the Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) Stores. The coat is made of brown plaid wool. It is double breasted, with wonderful brown buttons. It has raglan shoulders, and a plain back. The coat is half lined, and has great design on the labels. It bears a 1936 ACWofA union label, which nails down the date.
Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Center of collar to cuff (due to raglan shoulders): 34-1/2″ (comparable to about a 25″ sleeve with regular shoulders)
Length (base of collar to hem): 47″