A few interesting finds from today's local militaria show

[coolhandluke]

Attended our local yearly militaria show this morning. Typically there's not much in the way of aviation related militaria, aside from patches and insignia. This year was a bit better.

Still, the only thing that I walked away with was the USMC G1, shown in the photos below. It's an extremely minty '58 contract LW Foster. I am assuming the patches are Vietnam era or slightly earlier, but I haven't been able to research them quite yet. Is anyone aware of when name plates started being attached with hook and loop material?

The same seller had a size 44 Dryback AL-1, and a couple patched WEP's in size 42R.

Last, but not least, was a size 40 RW 18091. Liner was mostly intact, knits are mostly gone due to mothing, right pocket stitching has failed, which concerned me about the condition of the remaining stitching.

 

[B-Man2]

That’s a great find !!
What kind of prices were they getting for these jackets?
Just wondering .

 

[Pa12]

Is it just me

Attended our local yearly militaria show this morning. Typically there's not much in the way of aviation related militaria, aside from patches and insignia.

The only thing that I walked away with was the USMC G1, shown in the photos below. It's an extremely minty '58 contract LW Foster. I am assuming the patches are post-Vietnam, but I haven't been able to research it quite yet.

View attachment 152461

View attachment 152463

View attachment 152465

The same seller had a size 44 Dryback AL-1, and a couple patched WEP's in size 42R.

View attachment 152467

View attachment 152469

View attachment 152473

View attachment 152475

View attachment 152477

Last, but not least, was a size 40 RW 18091. Liner was mostly intact, knits are mostly gone due to mothing, right pocket stitching has failed, which concerned me about the condition of the remaining stitching.

View attachment 152479

View attachment 152481

or do those rw sleeves look super wide?

 

[coolhandluke]

That’s a great find !!
What kind of prices were they getting for these jackets?
Just wondering .

I didn't ask on the AL-1 since it wasn't my size. The C-130 refueling unit WEP was $450. The other WEP was $2200. The RW was $700, which was just too high for negotiation IMO, so I didn't bother haggling.

 

[coolhandluke]

Is it just me

or do those rw sleeves look super wide?

It's an optical illusion. Wide angle lens on cell phone, both sleeves are sitting up higher than the body (on top of other clothing, folded on the table). They're also flat as a pancake, which I think makes them appear much wider.

 

[coolhandluke]

I took a trip back down to the show this afternoon as the vendors were packing up. I was trying to get measurements for Vic on the RW, but it was unfortunately a bit small for a 40 like I initially feared. After handling the jacket again, I couldn't bear leaving it to get packed up. Hopefully it can be sympathetically restored with a minimal amount of work.

 

[coolhandluke]

I also found a painted leather 714th BS patch hiding in the left pocket, but I'm almost certain that it's not original.

 

[mulceber]

All of this is really great, Luke. You found several real gems.

 

[Silver Surfer]

damnit! too bad, too small. ya dun gud, Luke.

 

[B-Man2]

It will take a few bucks but from the limited photos posted .. it looks mostly all fixable.

 

[coolhandluke]

It will take a few bucks but from the limited photos posted .. it looks mostly all fixable.

As far as I can tell, it needs replacement knits, a portion of the right pocket restitched, a bit of replacement liner material on the collar stand, and some other minor repairs to the liner. Of course that's subject to change once someone with a more experienced eye inspects it. All snaps appear to be in good condition with no corrosion. I made sure to undo the collar snaps and pocket snaps and will leave them that way. The sleeves are flattened, but the hide is still soft and pliable.

 

[mulceber]

a replacement collar stand

Do you mean the liner on the collar stand or the actual strip of leather?

 

[coolhandluke]

Do you mean the liner on the collar stand or the actual strip of leather?

Sorry, Jan. The liner material in the collar stand area.

 

[mulceber]

Sorry, Jan. The liner material in the collar stand area.

That should be easily fixed. Hardest part will be getting the material to match.

 

[B-Man2]

That should be easily fixed. Hardest part will be getting the material to match.

Sorry, Jan. The liner material in the collar stand area.

Sometimes you can salvage the collar liner using a toothpick and very small pin head drops of fabric glue. As long as all the pieces are there they can be like a puzzle and fit together with very small pin head drops of glue using the tooth pick as the dabber .

 

[coolhandluke]

That should be easily fixed. Hardest part will be getting the material to match.

JC was kind enough to send me a link to matching replacement liner material from MASH and Vic also offered some assistance as well. A big thank you to everyone for their help. I just need to reach out to Steve Sellers to see if he's able to take on the repair job.

 

[Thomas Koehle]

That AL1 would have been my size (okay i`d need to squeeze in a bit) ...

Awesome finds mate!

Some times i think its better for me to life in Europe far far away from this kind of stuff ...

 

[Griffon_301]

would have taken the AL-1 as well

 

[sammy]

Wow, the Roughwear's a great find, looking forward to seeing how the restoration turns out. It would be good if you could find further details about the original owner.

 

[Grant]

Really cool stuff! Steve Sellers would do a brilliant job restoring that 18091 to wearable condition. Thanks for the photos!