Vertical Stripe Hudson’s Bay point blanket coat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/401060646706

This vintage coat was made in the 1960s from English made Hudson’s Bay Company point blankets.  In a departure from the usual way that these blankets are turned into coats, this one has the stripes running vertically, giving it a very mod look. It has 3/4 length sleeves.
Pit to pit: 24-1/2″ (doubled = 49″)
Sleeve (center of collar to cuff): 26″
Length (base of collar to hem): 40

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Early’s Witney Point blanket coat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/401039554675

This vintage coat was made in Canada in the 1950s from English made Early’s Witney Point Blanket material and was sold by Sears under their Hercules Fieldmaster label. It has a Milium lining, which, when combined with the incredibly thick blankets used in this make for one of the warmest vintage coats out there.

Tagged size: 44
Chest (pit to pit): 28″ (doubled = 56″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 20-1/2″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (base of collar to hem): 33-1/2″

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Congress Sportswear Hudson’s Bay point blanket jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/401019592773
This vintage jacket was made in the 1930s-1940s by Congress Sportswear from Hudson’s Bay Point Blankets. It bears a late 1930s style narrow black HBC blanket label, and Congress’s pre-war style manufacturer’s label. The blankets this one is made from are the earlier, higher quality English made ones. The coat has high mounted button adjuster tabs on the sides, and button adjusters at the cuffs. The stitching on the c.1960s Scovill zipper is non matching, and over a layer of stitching from the original zipper. This Hudson’s Bay fabric was extremely expensive, generally doubling the cost of the coat over a more traditional mackinaw wool, and as such, many of the ones I see bear such repairs, where the original owner has kept the coat in service for decades.

Chest (pit to pit): 22-1/2″ (doubled = 45″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 18″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23-1/2″
Length (Base of collar to hem): 32″

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1950s Lasso Western Wear western jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271489217364
This vintage western jacket was made in the 1950s under the Lasso Western Wear label. It is single breasted, with peak lapels, scalloped, buttoned pocket flaps, and a bi-swing action back. It is made of brown on brown blanket material, similar to that produced by the Hudson’s Bay company. This one is lighter weight than that fabric, but has the same coloration and napped texture. According to the tag, the model name is the Mr. Mak. The details, particularly the shape and width of the lapels, identify this as a 1950s example. Looking through Lasso Western Wear catalogs of the period, by the early 1960s, while the overall cut was similar, the lapels had narrowed greatly, and the peak had been largely overtaken by the notch in popularity.

Chest (pit to pit): 24″ (doubled = 48″)
Shoulder to shoulder: 20″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 25″
Length (base of collar to hem): 31″

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1920s Wool A-1 jacket

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281196431961

This vintage jacket was made prior to 1926 in a wool A-1 style out of Hudson’s Bay point blankets.

In the early 1920s, a style of jacket emerged that would later come to be adapted into the A-1 flight jacket. This style had knit cuffs, a knit collar and a knit waistband, to keep of the wind and cold. It was produced in both wool and leather, and was marketed toward men who spent time out of doors- workmen and sportsmen. By the mid 1920s, the style started to evolve, with some makers dropping the knit collar for one in a shirt style made of the same material as the body. That variant, made in leather, later became the A-2 flight jacket. This jacket dates from the transitional period between the two. It has a waist length cut with a knit waistband and cuffs. It has a button front, as the separable bottomed zipper pioneered by Hookless Fastener, which allowed for zipper fronted jackets, would not go into production until 1930. Although most jackets of this style had flapped patch pockets, the positioning of them varied by maker and model. While some had them down towards the waistband in a setup now considered conventional, this one has them positioned midway up the chest.

The chinstrap detail is taken straight from workshirts of the period- constructed in the same way, with an extended collar stand with two buttonholes. The two tone nature of the red and black blanket material allows for a great two tone look, highlighting the pocket flaps and the collar.

The jacket is constructed from a three point sized Hudson’s Bay Company Point blanket. This material would have pushed this particular jacket into the top of the line position for this style. Jackets such as this made from HBC blankets were regularly double (or more) the cost of a heavyweight wool jacket of the same model and manufacturer. It was often an even pricier material option than the horsehide or capeskin leather options. The Hudson Bay blankets have a long and proud tradition in the history of rugged clothing for outdoorsmen. An icon of Canadian culture, the blankets at this time were made in England. The first mackinaw coats were tailored from then in 1780. Fur traders wore Capotes made from this fabric throughout the 19th century. Lumbermen of the late 19th and early 20th century prized the brightly colored coats as being the best on the market for warmth and durability. This one bears an early style label, before the “Reg. No.” was added to the bottom in 1926.

Chest (pit to pit): 27″ (doubled = 54″)
Shoulder to Shoulder: 23″
Sleeve (shoulder to cuff): 23-1/2″
Length (to bottom of knit): 27-1/2″

 

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These ads are from the 1930s, but give an idea of the pricepoint comparisons. In this period, they were frequently advertised alongside horsehide and mouton ” Grizzly ” jackets, and other such expensive and rugged garments.  photo 193606Stitch-Copy.jpg

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