entertainment
Well-Known Member
This jacket has a Beck label but was probably made by Schott. Based on information in the Rin Tanaka book on Schott, I would guess that it dates to the late 1960s or early 1970s. Elsewhere on this forum, Ken has argued that Schott did not make jackets for Beck, but as I will argue further down, this jacket almost certainly was.
It seems like this jacket was barely worn. There is no discoloration to the lining. The edges of the leather are worn in places, but I wonder if this might not be insect damage. The first smell was mothballs but that dissipated quickly leaving behind what my daughter called "cigarettes and cologne" which I can't really argue with. It is not unpleasant for me.
The leather is almost certainly steerhide or cowhide and is stiff but flexible like a modern high quality repro. I have no fear that it will crack although I gave it a very thin layer of Pecard Antique Dressing as a precaution.
This is the 1950s to late 1960s (according to Rin Tanaka) checker-flag label which replaced the Northeaster Flying Togs label. I always take these dates with a grain of salt, but this label did change when Beck was sold to Arnley in 1969. I have seen Beck-Arnley labels, but I suspect that the old Beck labels were not replaced right away.
The main zipper is an aluminum Talon with a T on the zipper box.
The sleeve zippers don't match! One is a SEBA and the other is unmarked. I don't think either was replaced. I think the box of zippers just had a bunch of each and the operator didn't notice or care if they were different.
This photo also shows why I think this is almost certainly by Schott. One reason that Ken said that he did not think that Schott made the Beck jackets is that the quality of the Beck jackets was much higher than the Schott jackets from the same period. One piece of evidence he cited was that Schott used fake leather for the infill between the sleeve zippers. I wish he were correct! But unfortunately this Beck has the same fake leather as can be seen in this photo. I checked lots of other Becks from this era on the internet and they all had the fake leather while earlier ones did not.
It seems like this jacket was barely worn. There is no discoloration to the lining. The edges of the leather are worn in places, but I wonder if this might not be insect damage. The first smell was mothballs but that dissipated quickly leaving behind what my daughter called "cigarettes and cologne" which I can't really argue with. It is not unpleasant for me.
The leather is almost certainly steerhide or cowhide and is stiff but flexible like a modern high quality repro. I have no fear that it will crack although I gave it a very thin layer of Pecard Antique Dressing as a precaution.
This is the 1950s to late 1960s (according to Rin Tanaka) checker-flag label which replaced the Northeaster Flying Togs label. I always take these dates with a grain of salt, but this label did change when Beck was sold to Arnley in 1969. I have seen Beck-Arnley labels, but I suspect that the old Beck labels were not replaced right away.
The main zipper is an aluminum Talon with a T on the zipper box.
The sleeve zippers don't match! One is a SEBA and the other is unmarked. I don't think either was replaced. I think the box of zippers just had a bunch of each and the operator didn't notice or care if they were different.
This photo also shows why I think this is almost certainly by Schott. One reason that Ken said that he did not think that Schott made the Beck jackets is that the quality of the Beck jackets was much higher than the Schott jackets from the same period. One piece of evidence he cited was that Schott used fake leather for the infill between the sleeve zippers. I wish he were correct! But unfortunately this Beck has the same fake leather as can be seen in this photo. I checked lots of other Becks from this era on the internet and they all had the fake leather while earlier ones did not.
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