Your first original

[Anonymous]

Ah... the memories

What was your 1st ever original?
when did you buy it and how much you paid?
under what circumstances you bought it?

Mine was 2 issued (but unissued) m-65 jackets by winfield made in the 1980s
the year was 1985 or 1987
they were a gift

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Mine was a russet size 42 Perry, there was a free shed / swap shop at the town dump on Cape Cod. I pulled up about 7AM and it was hanging over one of those folding metal chairs, never any patches on it and the liner was rough. Also the pocket had been almost completely ripped off (just the threads) and repaired with dental floss. I about puked when I spotted it about 20 feet away from inside the car. Nobody else was around, but I still ran to it.

Oh, and it was October 19th maybe 15 years ago, my birthday

 

[joeson]

Gold on black label N-3b,I still have it.I couldn't get over how good the quality was and how well made.Started an obsession with quality military clothing.

 

[Roughwear]

My first original A2 was a well worn size 40 Cable Raincoat A2 from the large 27753 contract.

 

[John Lever]

Mine was a D-1 size large from Western Leather or some such.

 

[Peter Graham]

A WW2 British army battledress blouse when I was about ten but as an adult ? collector, a 27753 contract A-2.

 

[navvet]

Mine was a G-1 issued in primary flight school in Pensacola in 1974. They told us they were made of naugahyde. :? We only kept them during initial flight trainng and turned them in when we moved on. I doubt if anyone remembered the mfg. co. We never cared about the labels back then.

 

[MikeyB-17]

1963 Irvin B.Foster G-1 bought from Aero, I think I paid £200-odd quid for it. Have paid considerably less for all the other G-1's I've owned since. Never owned an original A-2, fairly unlikely that I ever will now.

 

[B-Man2]

Originals! ........Originals! You guys have originals???

 

[767fo]

Originals! ........Originals! You guys have originals???

:lol:

 

[Hobbstc]

1963 Irvin B.Foster G-1 bought from Aero, I think I paid £200-odd quid for.

Funny, mine is the same jacket. Of course mine is for sale now, but it is the first original I bought.

 

[Anonymous]

and first original A-2 was a RW 27752 I bought from silver surfer some 3 years ago.

 

[MikeyB-17]

1963 Irvin B.Foster G-1 bought from Aero, I think I paid £200-odd quid for.

Funny, mine is the same jacket. Of course mine is for sale now, but it is the first original I bought.

Yeah mine was exactly like yours, mine was also a 44, which fit like a 42. I sold it eventually. I've had several G-1's over the years, including a near-mint Ralph Edwards and an Irvin B. 'PX' jacket, with a two-piece back and no USN on the windflap. Now my current G-1 is a '64 C series Irvin B., my favourite of all the ones I've had, which I plan on keeping.

 

[JDAM]

A beautiful Roughwear A-2 with amazing Long Rangers art. I do wish I had kept some photos (and the jacket).

 

[lightning38]

My first original jacket was an A-2 that was my dads in WW II in the Air Corps and I wore it to grade school in the 1950's, it might have had a leather name tag on it but I can't remember. I do have a picture of him wearing an M-39 with a leather name tag but he didn't bring it home from the war, anyway I don't remember it.

 

[dilbert]

Flight Gear Issue, summer of 1967, NAS Pensacola. Was there along with a bunch from my class of newbies, the yeoman behind the counter looked you up and down quickly, turned around and grabbed a pile of equipment and handed/threw them at you. Amazingly, everything fit, flight suit, helmet, flight jacket, boots, etc. My old G-1, a Ralph Edwards goatskin with mouton collar, is still in near-perfect condition after all these years despite being tossed around aircraft and slept in.

 

[johnwayne]

Mine was a nice Aero with berry knits that I bought from none other than Andrew (Roughwear)! Unfortutnately it was a tad small but I convinced myself it wasn't - would never have sold it otherwise but that was moved onto Alan (Persimmon) and I believe he sold it on to...........? Over to you Alan!!

cheers
Wayne

 

[EMBLEMHUNTER]

"Original" , Man I wish !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even find a good "copy" around here let alone the "real deal" ........................... :?

 

[Silver Surfer]

i was about 10 or 11 when my neighbor [peter remuzzi], mr. remuzzi gave me my first original a-2. while workin in his garden, he would watch me zooming around on my bike going "ratatatatatat", and one day asked what i was doing. i told him i was shooting down krauts, or japs, depending on my enemy of the moment. he told me to hang on for a few moments, as he had something for me. he went into his house and came out with this jacket. he told me to put it on,,,and i did. he said it fit me perfectly [even though mr. remuzzi was a little guy, it was big on me], and it was a gift from him to me. i sure as hell didnt know dick from a-2s, but i sure as hell knew it was special since i knew he was a bomber pilot in the war [wwll], and this was the jac he wore during his enlistment. i wore the bejesus out of it 24-7, and would not take it off, ever. dont know which maker, and it only had his name tag on it. at some point it got passed down to my kid brother, and then????dunno. price? what is the price of friendship?

 

[Anonymous]

great story

in my story the jackets were given to me as gift from my late father.
at that time I didn't even speak any english so couldn't read the label
but I know these jackets were special.
Anyway after years gave one to one of my friend's younger brother
and took the other with me when I went to sea as a cadet.
I wore it to work and became dirty with paint and grease. When I left
gave it to the boatswain who liked it a lot.

After many many years, l realized the sentimental value those jackets had and seeked
to replace them. But couldn't remember the maker, so kept on buying M65s until I got it
To this day I have nearly 20 M65s all brand new NOS condition from various contracts and years.
I now think the originals I had were made by Winfield.

About original A-2 that I have handled I can say that I liked the leather and the cut of the Rough Wear 27752 best. I thought it was very 'warlike'. I have seen many repros of it from nearly every maker, but none of them has managed it give it that "original vintage" look. Now that original RW I bought from Silver Surfer lies with an Italian tannery. I better ask them to send it back before some idiot thinks it's old garbage and throws it away.