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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Guiterman Bros 1930s Town and Country leather jacket

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″

 

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Ad from 1934.
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Ad from 1935
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1930s cossack ski jacket

SOLD
This vintage jacket was made in the mid to late 1930s. The jacket has a waist length cut, a throat latch tab collar (chinstrap), two flapped patch pockets, a belted back, and button adjuster tabs on the sleeves. The pockets and collar are trimmed with contrast green wool, which, in combination with the style of the back, makes me think this was a ski jacket. The basic style, without the contrast trim, was used throughout the 1930s as a workwear jacket style, made both in wool, as found on this example, and in leather. Regardless of the material, the style was known as a cossack jacket. This jacket has a triple marked 1930s Talon zipper with a deco-sunburst stop box. This style zipper was introduced c.1936 as the “style 101” and was sold alongside the grommet zipper “the style 102”, until it replaced it in the lineup. In the earlier years of manufacture, this style was advertised as being available in “Rainbow Colors”, but colored examples are rare. Here we have one in green, with a green tape and green hardware. The throat latch detail on this jacket was common in the early-mid 1930s, gradually losing favor as the decade wore on.

Tagged size: 46
Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 18-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length: 23-1/2″

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1930s Suede Leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281142062357
This vintage leather jacket was made in the 1930s. From the rare variant of Talon zipper, it can be dated to about 1936 or 1937. It is made of brown suede leather, in a classic utility jacket style. From the sizing, I’d say this was made for the teenage market. Handwarmer pockets, yoked back, zip breast pocket, zip front, side adjuster belts. Both zippers are in excellent condition and work well.

Chest (pit to pit): 19″
Shoulder to shoulder: 15-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 22″
Length: 17-1/2″

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1930s zip-off topper swimsuit

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271226435642
This vintage bathing suit was made in the mid 1930s. This was a transitional time between the age of one or two piece men’s bathing suits, and that of topless bathing suits. The top is detachable on this one via a Kwik zipper, which bears patents no 1752111, 1814244, and a third which is somewhat difficult to read. The trunks have a diamond gusseted crotch and belt loops. The top is striped.

Waist (unstretched): 8″ (doubled = 16″)
Waist (stretched): 12″ (doubled = 24″)
Side seam: 9″
Rise: 12″

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1930s “Guardsman” Overcoat

This vintage overcoat was made in the late 1930s and was sold by Colwell Brothers in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Colwell Brothers was (and still is) Halifax’s premier men’s store.  They were extremely high end, and I have handled a lot of merchandise that they sold over the years.  It is all absolutely the best of the best, and they favored more traditional, English styles.  This overcoat has a 1936 union tag, which places its date of manufacture between 1936 and 1939.  It has a six button front.  All buttonholes are functional, but the lapels are rolled to the second button, something which was a style of the time.  As this is a more conservative style, it has a plain back instead of the fancy belted backs you would see on younger mens styles.  It is fully satin lined. The coat is in excellent condition.
Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to cuff: 26″
Shoulder to Shoulder: 18-1/2
Length: 44″
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Union Labels

An extremely rough guide to union tags. There are other unions whose tags are not represented here. Companies and tailors used what tags they had on hand, so there is overlap between different patterns of tags, and there are always exceptions and flukes.

1883 (1883-?)
NRA (1933-1936)

1934 (1934-1936) Not pictured: same as 1936 and 1939 tags
1936 (1936-1939)
1939 (1939-1949)
1949 (1949-1962)
1949 variant (1962-c.1976 ) I’ve seen examples of these on menswear dated into the 1980s, despite the union merging to form the ACTWU in 1976.

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Mid 1930s Stetson Playboy Air Light

Now on eBay! LINK

This hat is the first generation of the famous Stetson Playboy. It is made of “Air Light” quality felt, some of the lightest felt Stetson ever produced. It has a correspondingly thin and lightweight leather sweatband, narrow ribbon, and a stitched brim edge. There is punched ventilation in the crown. The felt is so light and soft, yet dense, that it easily takes any crease. The sweatband is stamped “The Stetson Playboy – Air Light”. It was sold by Kuhns Johnson Company of Greensburg PA. There is a vibrant blue bow at the sweatband seam, and a typical mid 1930s Stetson gold foil tag. The unreeded sweatband has dropped a fair number of stitches, as is common on unreeded sweatbands of this period.
Size: 7-1/8
Brim Width: 2-1/8″
Ribbon Width: 7-1/8″
Crown Height: 5-7/8″
   
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