Sears Topline leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281154512089
This vintage leather jacket was made for Sears under the short lived “Topline Men’s Wear” line. I have only been able to find ads for that particular line from the wartime years, early-mid 1940s. The jacket is a classic half-belt style. It has dual vertical chest pockets. The back has a half-belt. The buttons on either side of the belt indicate that when it was new, it probably had a button-on full belt. As with this one, most jackets that were so equipped had the belts discarded decades ago. The jacket is made of supple capeskin, which has been worn to a soft patina. The jacket has a quilted lining. The jacket fastens with a transitional Talon zipper. The pull is of the small-holed variety seen in the late 1930s and early 1940s, while the stop-box is a design seen more often in the mid through late 1940s.

Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length: 27″

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Campus Sportswear horsehide leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281154565976
This jacket was made in the late ’40s-mid 1950s timeframe by Campus Sportswear. It is made of horsehide in a classic half-belt utility jacket design that was popular from the 1930s-1950s. This one brings a bit of a ’50s twist to the design in the form of the swooping stitching/welt running up the front of the jacket. The jacket has slash handwarmer pockets, a zipped breast pocket, and adjuster belts on the sides. It has a brass Talon zipper of the design introduced in the late 1940s. The jacket has a quilted lining.

Chest (pit to pit): 22-1/2″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23-1/2″
Length: 25″

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1920s A-1 leather jacket (repro)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281154609109

This jacket is a very close copy of the suede leather “windbreaker” jackets of the 1920s which evolved into the A-1 flight jacket. Many of these early jackets were made of lightweight leathers, suede or capeskin, and were unlined. Separable bottom zippers were not invented until 1927, and didn’t come to jackets until c.1930, so jackets of the 1920s had button fronts. In this period, knit collars, cuffs and waistbands were popular. These jackets were marketed toward the sporting market: golfers, hunters, outdoorsmen. This short style would come to be adopted by civilian aviators, as it was far less clumsy than the full length coats of the WWI period.

There are no tags or identifying marks. Though this jacket is vintage, probably from the ’60s or so from the look of the buttons, it is a good reproduction of that 1920s style. It has caramel colored buttons and is made from rough-out capeskin. It is entirely unlined.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23-1/2″
Length: 23″

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Late 1930s belted leather jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281154502621
This vintage leather jacket was made in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Whereas many jackets of this era either had a button on belt, or a half-belt back, this one has a full attached belt. It has an action back It has two buttoned vertical pockets on the chest, and flapped buttoned pockets. The front is done up with a deco sunburst Talon zipper, which helps pin the date down. The jacket is fully lined. Though the tag is missing, the leather on this jacket feels like other horsehide jackets of this era I’ve had. The leather has developed a great patina over time, and the grain has really started to pop on the back panels.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25-1/2″
Length: 25-1/2″

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1960s Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket coat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271246948755
This vintage coat was made by the Hudson’s Bay company from their iconic point blanket material. It is in their “Olympic” pattern, a double breasted style, with handwarmer pockets and flapped patch pockets. In this particular example, the points of the four point blanket are on the inside of the coat on the wearer’s right. The coat is fully lined.

Chest (pit to pit): 23″ (doubled = 46″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 19-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 26″
Length: 36″

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Extra Large Hudson’s Bay Blanket Coat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271246957324
This vintage coat was made by the Hudson’s Bay company from their iconic point blanket material. It is in their “Olympic” pattern, a belted double breasted style, with handwarmer pockets and flapped patch pockets. In this particular example, the points of the four point blanket are on the inside of the coat on the wearer’s right shoulder. The coat is fully lined in gray. It is tagged a 46, but I would say it fits more like a size 50 or 52.

Chest (pit to pit): 29″ (doubled = 58″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 21″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 27″
Length: 34″

A bit about the Hudson’s Bay Blanket Coat:
The Hudson’s Bay Company introduced their distinctive striped “point” trade blanket in 1780. The blankets were used in the fur trade, traded in exchange for pelts. The “points” represented the size and weight of the blanket. The blankets were soon being tailored into hooded, belted “Capotes”.
In 1811, 40 greatcoats were commissioned for soldiers stationed at Fort St. Joseph in Jocelyn, Ontario. They were made under the direction of John Askin, fur trader, and keeper of the King’s Store at that fort. Running short on proper supplies and in need of adequately warm coats for the men, Askin had the coats sewn from point blankets. The modern mackinaw was born.
The Hudson’s Bay blanket material was advertised for its, “warmth, durability, retention of color, non-shrinage”, for being “non-hardening when exposed to the elements”, and for their water resistant qualities. Combined with its heavy weight, and thick fluffy nap, the Hudson’s Bay Blanket made for ideal material in a harsh environment. They remained popular with fur traders through the 18th and 19th centuries. Along with their mackinaw-cloth relatives, they also proved popular with Lumbermen on both sides of the border.
Coats made from Hudson’s Bay point blanket material were truly investments, costing significantly more than identical coats in other fabrics. Some examples: In 1937, an Albert Richard coat in heavy mackinaw cloth cost $12.50. That same coat in the HBC fabric cost $22.50. In 1936, a different manufacturer was offering 32oz melton coats for $5.95. To upgrade to point blanket fabric doubled the price.
These coats were the ultimate in rugged, high-end outdoors garments. At the top of the price range for short coats, they were sold by such high-end outfitters as Abercrombie & Fitch and Von Lengerke & Detmold. By the 1930s, sportswear companies like Albert Richard and Maine Guide by Congress had joined the act. The Hudson’s Bay blanket coat enjoyed a surge of popularity on the United States market in the mid through late 1930s. Mirroring the Mackinaw craze of 1912-1915, the style was brought over the border to the US by tourists and seasonal workers who had seen the coats in use in Canada and been impressed with their warmth and durability. They briefly became a university fad in the 1930s, but really stuck with sportsmen who could afford the best.
Hudson’s Bay blankets were originally made in England. In the middle of the 20th century, they switched manufacture to Canada. Currently, they are again produced in England, by John Atkinson. Former competitor Woolrich Woolen mills has the contract to import Bay Blankets to the US, and other former competitor Pendleton now makes the blankets used in the coats sold by HBC.
As the 20th century wore on, the Hudson’s Bay point blanket coat remained a Canadian icon. It was the Canadian team uniform at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics.

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Allied Clothiers mustard colored jacket

Also see: https://vintagehaberdashers.com/2012/05/23/1950s-allied-clothiers-cotton-ricky-jacket/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281142179139
This vintage sportswear jacket was made in the early to mid 1950s by Allied Clothiers. It is made of lightweight mustard colored cotton, with side adjuster belts, action pleated shoulders and handwarmer pockets. The front does up with a rare Talon zipper variant, in aluminum with a 1953 patented E-Z Zip-Tab.

Chest (pit to pit): 21″
Shoulder to shoulder: 17″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 22-1/2″
Length: 26″

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Pheasant Sweater

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271246715460
This vintage shawl collar sweater was made by the Standard Knitting Co., LTD of Canada under their “Tundra” label.It has coin style buttons and knit in patterns of pheasants.

Chest (pit to pit, unstretched): 21″
Chest (pit to pit, stretched): 36″
Shoulder to shoulder: 19″
Shoulder to cuff: 29″
Length: 32″

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