Aero Clothing & Tanning Co.

[33-1729]

I was curious what influence, if any, Aero Clothing and Tanning Co. of Brooklyn, NY had on the other company, Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. of Beacon, NY and to what extent. I wasn’t surprised to find that one enabled the other, but was surprised to find out how.

In Sept. 1936 Louis Kramer, Abe Wolkowitz, and John E. Liebmann had a purely verbal agreement to enter the business of manufacturing leather clothing but didn’t have the means to do so. Beginning Dec. 1936 enter Emily Kramer, the wife of Louis Kramer, who carried Aero Clothing and Tanning Co. under her name. She alone had the means to provide a performance bond to enable obtaining government contracts, obtained the contract from the government, and outright purchased the machines, bought leather and trimmings and paid for the rent and payroll. In the operation of that business Louis Kramer acted as salesman, Abe Wolkowitz was in charge of production and John E. Liebmann had charge of the office activities, including purchasing and shipping. From the money she made from the government contract she gave her husband, Louis Kramer, $4,000 and loans to Abe Wolkowitz, and John E. Liebmann to start off their business. On May 18, 1937, the Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. was legally incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and Aero Clothing and Tanning Co. was no more. Who’d of thought?

https://www.leagle.com/decision/19497628hatcm7541554

 

[Silver Surfer]

i think that the name was no more. aero clothing and tanning became aero leather co, and moved their operation from brooklyn ny to beacon ny.

 

[33-1729]

i think that the name was no more. aero clothing and tanning became aero leather co, and moved their operation from brooklyn ny to beacon ny.

The key point is that Emily Kramer owned and led Aero Clothing and Tanning Co. and from that business endeavor provided the money so her husband and two associates could legally start up their own company call Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. They are not the same company run by the same person, but one was created to fund the start of the other. Quite a story.

 

[zoomer]

The contract (the one we know about anyway) was 37-3061P, for an unknown quantity of A-2s.

 

[33-1729]

The contract (the one we know about anyway) was 37-3061P, for an unknown quantity of A-2s.

Yes. Gary Eastman owns (has owned?) two of them, so Eastman Leather Clothing would be a natural choice for making a re-manufactured version. The 37-3061P is, as far as I know, the only A-2 contract where survivors are known, but it hasn't been re-manufactured. (The Goldsmith 31-1897 being the only re-manufactured A-2 contract where a survivor has not been found ...yet )

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

We do intend to get round to this one but we are heavily backlogged in the contracts we are already offering, we've still not got the 16160 online althoiugh we've been making it for around a year now

 

[B-Man2]

Does anyone have photographs of either of the two jackets mentioned in this thread?

 

[Silver Surfer]

theres a pic in the eastman a-2 book. a first contract aero is on my list, and since originals are rarer then hens teeth, i would most certainly consider a reproduction that was made as originals were.

 

[B-Man2]

Thanks Vic!

 

[zoomer]

Yes. Gary Eastman owns (has owned?) two of them, so Eastman Leather Clothing would be a natural choice for making a re-manufactured version.

Sadly ELC no longer has an operator capable of making prewar A-2s. There was only ever one, who has left the company.

 

[B-Man2]

Sadly ELC no longer has an operator capable of making prewar A-2s. There was only ever one, who has left the company.

Don’t you find that a bit strange. How much different can a pre war A2 be from a war time A2 in terms of sewing it together . I would think that the skills necessary sew an A2 together would pretty much be the same for most A2’s. Now cutting the patterns is a different story .

 

[zoomer]

differences include:
- riveted or grommeted zippers
- jetting behind left side of zipper
- inset collar latches
- topstitched knits
- less stitching on epaulets

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Don’t you find that a bit strange. How much different can a pre war A2 be from a war time A2 in terms of sewing it together . I would think that the skills necessary sew an A2 together would pretty much be the same for most A2’s. Now cutting the patterns is a different story .

Not necessarily I found these early jackets quite tricky when I was developing the style and I'd probably made well over a thousand A-2s by then , one of our best machinists went onto training on these and she has had to put her training on hold till I'm back down in the factory, meanwile Christine is the only machinist we've got on these. Julie would be able to do them standing on her head but she's far to busy on our Premier Range but that's Julie, there's nobody like her!
I don't expect there's much, if any, difference between the 1937 and 1938 Aero patterns, I do know from originals in our archives that the 1938 & 1940 Aeros used the same pattern

 

[B-Man2]

Ken
Thanks for that info . I never would have guessed that was the case

 

[33-1729]

Not necessarily I found these early jackets quite tricky when I was developing the style and I'd probably made well over a thousand A-2s by then , one of our best machinists went onto training on these and she has had to put her training on hold till I'm back down in the factory, meanwile Christine is the only machinist we've got on these. Julie would be able to do them standing on her head but she's far to busy on our Premier Range but that's Julie, there's nobody like her!
I don't expect there's much, if any, difference between the 1937 and 1938 Aero patterns, I do know from originals in our archives that the 1938 & 1940 Aeros used the same pattern

It makes sense the basic pattern is the same between the ALC 38-1711P and 40-3785P contracts, though there are a number of detail differences (collar hook attachment, leather trim down the zipper, etc.). Some of these differences are due to what parts were supplied at the time, but it makes sense the early pre-war jacket details required quite a bit more training and finesse. (I'm impressed by my 33-1729!)

I would expect Emily Kramer passed the patterns from her AC&T company onto her husband’s ALC company, given she got them started. With ALC in Beacon, or sixty plus miles down the road from AC&T in Brooklyn, I would expect a whole new crew was used to staff it and a lot more differences because of it.

I heard the last AC&T 37-3061P for sale went on eBay a few years ago and sold to Gary Eastman, and contained a number of close-up pictures. I haven’t been able to locate them. Does anyone else have them to post?

 

[zoomer]

I would imagine any visual evidence is as tightly held as the physical object itself in this case...

Ken, what in particular was so tricky about making these, or would you be giving away proprietary knowledge just telling us?

 

[33-1729]

I originally thought there was one Aero company, then clearly two different Aero companies, but looking carefully at the reference in post #1 do I see there are four? Well, one and three of one?

Aero Clothing & Tanning Co. of Brooklyn, NY existed under verbal agreement from Sept 1936 until May 1937 with Emily Kramer at the helm. The money Emily Kramer raised in that company was used to help her husband, Louis Kramer, form a new company called Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. in Beacon, NY that was incorporated on May 18, 1937.

Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. of Beacon, NY ceased business on April 1, 1941 and was replaced by a three-way partnership called Aero Leather Clothing Company (note the dropped incorporated designation). On March 31, 1946 the partnership was dissolved in order to reincorporate on April 1, 1946. The first time it was incorporated was to create a new company, with the dissolution and subsequent reincorporation for financial reasons (and perhaps some tax fraud - see the reference for more details). The first company used collar stands on A-2 jackets, while the second did not. I don’t know the company history after the reincorporation in 1946.

 

[ausreenactor]

The key point is that Emily Kramer owned and led Aero Clothing and Tanning Co. and from that business endeavor provided the money so her husband and two associates could legally start up their own company call Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. They are not the same company run by the same person, but one was created to fund the start of the other. Quite a story.

Stellar research Sir. Thank you!

 

[zoomer]

Before Aero, Lou Kramer had been partners with Max Werber in Beacon, as Werber Leather Coat Co.
Max Werber then relocated to Newburgh, just across the Hudson, and set up Werber Sportswear.

 

[zoomer]

I have just confirmed that Aero Leather Clothing of Beacon made at least one contract (No. 60732 or "NOs-60732") for Navy 37J1 jackets of Bedford cord aka Jungle Cloth.

This was not previously known, altho Buzz Rickson's seem to have modeled their last repro on this contract, right down to a Beacon, NY label.

The surviving example in the Naval Aviation Museum is made to spec 37J1A, with a double button, non-zip collar. The spec had been upgraded to 37J1B (zip-up one button) late in 1936, but Aero Leather Clothing wasn't a going concern until mid '37, so perhaps the contract was let to Aero Clothing & Tanning of Brooklyn.

The Buzz label from the 2018 repro.