A guide to dating Talon Zippers
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Tag Archives: hookless zipper
1930s Canvas Messenger Bag with Talon Grommet zippers
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271640985218
This vintage canvas messenger bag was made in the late 1920s-early 1930s. It is made of lightweight green canvas, now faded. It has a single button closure flap, a divided interior and a strap with a D ring adjustment At some point, the original owner, a Mr. R.G. Pease, decided that he wanted a zipper top to make the contents of the bag more secure and added a zipper top. Instead of adding a closed end zipper that you would normally use on bags, he added two separable bottomed jacket zippers, with the early grommet bottomed stopbox and double hinge, pinlock, round holed slider, folding the separable end of the zippers to the inside of the bag.
1920s Wright and Ditson canvas tennis bag
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271593818029
This vintage canvas bag was mad by Wright & Ditson. It fastens at the end with a Talon Hookless fastener. At this point, the product was still known as Hookless, while the product was known as Talon. This has the transitional pull design which bears both the Hookless and the Talon names, with patent dates 3-20-17, 10-16-17, 11-25-19, 10-13-25, and 12-22-25 on the back . Consistent with this early date, the slider is unmarked and the end has D shaped stoppers. The ball pouch on the front of the bag has a Greek key trim patterned snap, made by the United States Fastener company, which merged in 1929 with Carr to form United Carr. This hardware pre-dates that merger, which puts the dating of this bag somewhere in the 1926-1930 range. The bag was originally owned by Elmer Giesick of Billings, Montana.
1930s US Biological Survey bag
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271570365132
This vintage canvas bag was made in the mid 1930s and was used by the US Biological Survey for poisoned grain, which was used to eliminate “undesirable species” from the western states of America to clear the way for agriculture and ranching. The Bureau of Biological Survey was created in 1934 and lasted until 1940, when the Fish and Wildlife Service was created.
The bag is made of selvedge canvas, with the selvedge edge by the zipper. The zipper is a very early Talon, made in the same shape as earlier Hookless zippers. The buckle has anchor and “W” hallmarks.
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″
1920s hookless zipper front pullover Hudson’s Bay jacket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271422243118
This vintage jacket was made in the 1920s. It was tailored from Hudson’s Bay point blanket material, at the time, one of the most expensive wools on the market, prized for its warmth and vibrant colors.
The jacket is a pullover style, with an A-1 style knit waistband. The separable-bottomed zipper was not introduced by Hookless/Talon until 1930. Prior to that point, if a manufacturer wanted a zip-front to a jacket, it had to be closed-bottomed, which meant a pullover style. This zipper is an extremely rare early Hookless, dating to the 1920s. It has a bent wire pull, probably meant for a leather pull attachment. This design pre-dated the grommet-zipper by a good five years or more.
It has a shirt style collar, with a long chinstrap, a detail borrowed from work clothing. The opening of the zipper has a layer of wool behind it to keep anything from becoming snagged in the teeth of the zipper. The Hudson’s Bay Company label bears the logo used in the 1920s, pre-dating the inclusion of registration numbers in the late 1920s.
Chest (pit to pit): 22″ (doubled = 44″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 21″ (Replacement of missing cuffs would probably bring length to 24-25″)
Length: 27″
1933 Vest – Hookless Zipper
Made by a high schooler in the 1930s, this patchwork leather vest sports a very early zipper.
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