1910s “The Gem” hunting vest

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271301060308
This vintage hunting vest was made by the Gem Shirt Company of Dayton, Ohio in the 1910s. The Gem Shirt Co. 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. The vest has 32 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 of the vest has a buckled belt, and a stitched-on tab added by the original owner, probably to hold his hunting license. The vest has a five button front, with metal buttons reading “The Gem”. The buttons attach via grommets and rings. The vest has a typically 1910s style yellow on black label.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″ (double = 42″)
Length: 18-1/2″

1911. “The Gem” trademark registered. Logo matches that on this vest.

1912 – Ad for The Gem hunting coats

1917 – Photo of “The Gem” hunting coat

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.

1930s Blue Bill hunting vest

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281191020912
This vintage vest was made in the 1930s by Red Head Brand under their Blue Bill label. In the 1940s, Blue Bill changed their logo, and began including the (R) symbol. It has closed bottomed canvas shotgun shell pockets, 38 on the front and 18 on the back, for a total of 56. The shotgun shells on the back take the place of the more traditional belted back. The vest has a five button front.

Also see, Red Head no. 1

and Red Head no. 2

Chest (pit to pit): 19″ (doubled = 38″)
Length: 18-1/2″

Waxed Cotton A-1 jacket

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

SOLD
This jacket was made by Ralph Lauren under the Polo equestrian label. It is a reproduction of a jacket style popular from c. 1919 through into the 1930s, which would be adapted by the military into the A-1 flight jacket. The original civilian model of this jacket was defined by its knit collar, cuffs and waistband, and patch pockets. The style was originally a hunting/outdoorsman’s style, and was generally, though not always, made of leather. This reproduction is made of water resistant waxed cotton / oiled cotton, a material appropriate for the style, as it also shares the hunting / outdoorsman’s garment lineage. This jacket has two large patch cargo pockets, and a small functional ticket pocket. The jacket is lined with tartan flannel. Unlike many Ralph Lauren products, this jacket, made under the leather Polo Equestrian label was made in the USA,

Chest (pit to pit): 27″ (doubled = 54″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 21-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to end of cuff): 26-1/2″
Length (bottom of collar to bottom of waistband): 26″

1930s cossack ski jacket

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

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″

The Royal stratoliner fedora

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

SOLD
This vintage fedora was made in the 1940s by “Royal”. It is a wool felt, factory blocked in a teardrop crown. The styling is similar to the Stratoliner model, with a thin western ribbon and bound brim, with fedora blocking and flanging.

Size: 7
Brim Width: 2-3/4″

Dobbs Fifteen

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271290514295

This vintage fedora was made by Dobbs in the 1940s. It is made of high quality fur felt, has a tall crown with a center-dent crease and front pinches, a black ribbon and bow and coral colored brim binding. This hat sold at the fifteen dollar price point, which was at the higher end of the pricing spectrum at the time. The hat has a brown leather sweatband and a cream colored lining. The hat was originally sold by Klee Bros. and Co., Chicago, IL.

Size: 7-1/4
Brim Width: 3″
Ribbon Width: 1-5/8″
Crown Height: 5-3/4″

1930s Red Head Brand green canvas hunting vest

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271287384189
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1930s by Red Head Brand. It has 34 closed bottom canvas shell pockets on the front, and 16 on the back, for a total of 50. The vest has a five button front. It has an early style Red Head label, the small square version with “Reg. US Pat. Off”, and “Fits the Sport” above and below the main logo. The jacket was obviously worn hard, and as is often the case with items like this, which are purely functional, was probably passed down and worn for multiple generations. It is unusual to see one of these hunting vests in this green colored canvas, usually you find them in brown.

Chest (pit to pit): 18″ (doubled = 36″)
Length: 17-1/2″

1930s Marshall GameMaster hunting vest

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281177331596
This vintage hunting vest was made in the 1930s by the Marshall Clothing Manufacturing Company of Butler, Indiana, under their “Gamemaster” label. The Marshall Clothing company was a well regarded manufacturer of sportswear- letterman jackets, basketball uniforms, gym shorts and the like. This vest has a five button front, with a high neck closure, reminiscent of early Brown’s Beach vests, also marketed towards the hunting market. This one is made of brown canvas, with closed bottomed loops for 32 shotgun shells. These loops are all covered with flaps to protect the cartridges from the elements. This vest also has a flapped bellows pleated breast pocket.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Length: 21″

Red Head Brand hunting vest

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271286283056
This vintage hunting best was made by Red Head brand. The vest has a densely woven brown canvas duck shell. It has a five button front and knit loops for twenty four shotgun shells. Behind the buttons is a mid 1930s Talon zipper, a rare transitional model between the hookless style grommet zips of the early ’30s and the “deco” zips of the later 1930s. As you can see, the sunburst stopbox on this one has the “foot” of the earlier riveted model. The label’s somewhat perplexing, in that it bears the registered trademark symbol. The Lanham act of the 1940s regulated who could use this symbol, and generally you see it on garments of the 1940s and newer. I have seen other Redhead clothes with this version of the label attributed as being from the 1930s, and the zipper is fairly definitively datable to the middle of the 1930s. So- either Red Head was an early adopter of the symbol, or a 1930s zip was installed a decade after it was made.

Chest (pit to pit): 20-1/2″
Length: 18-3/4″

1930s Duxbak Vest

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Spencer Stewart

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271286288652

This vintage hunting vest was made by the Utica Duxbak Corp. of Utica, New York in the 1930s. This one has the 1930s style label, which reads, “Duxbak Rain Proof Sanforized Sportsman’s Clothing”. It has a five button front and thirty two closed bottomed loops for shotgun shells. This particular model has a plain back (other options included an additional row of shotgun shells, and a belt-back). The canvas is densely woven and has acquired a great wear pattern over the years.

Chest (pit to pit): 20″ (doubled = 40″)
Length: 20″

Please also see these other Duxbak vests:

https://vintagehaberdashers.com/2013/09/16/1920s-duxbak-vest-size-42/

https://vintagehaberdashers.com/2013/08/31/1920s-duxbak-hunting-vest/

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Tag Archives: clothing

1910s “The Gem” hunting vest

1930s Blue Bill hunting vest

Waxed Cotton A-1 jacket

1930s cossack ski jacket

The Royal stratoliner fedora

Dobbs Fifteen

1930s Red Head Brand green canvas hunting vest

1930s Marshall GameMaster hunting vest

Red Head Brand hunting vest

1930s Duxbak Vest