MY LATEST BRONCO AC 29191-SIZE 44

[Roughwear]

I have owned two original Broncos in the past from this 1942 contract. One was made from goatskin and was suffering from terminal rot and was quickly passed on. The second, which I bought at the end of 2010 was labelled a 44 but fitted like a 42 and has been reprayed in a USAAF depot making the leather stiff in places. Now this hh Bronco has not been resprayed and the leather is thick and supple with areas of pronounced grain. The jacket is all original apart from the wristlets which appear to be matching theatre replacements. The Crown zip retains its spring and works extremely well. I have repaired the lining at the neck and mended several moth nips.

 

[Roughwear]

As I can no longer edit the post I can't remove one of the duplicate images of the epaulet. Here's the correct picture.

 

[saucerfiend]

Andrew,
That looks great! Another fine addition to your wonderful collection. Congrats!

Brian

 

[Roughwear]

Thanks Brian. Have you noticed the mis-aligned collar snaps?

 

[Peter Graham]

Have you noticed the mis-aligned collar snaps?

One of the little things that give originals so much character. Nice jacket. Love the Crown zipper.

 

[Roughwear]

The hanger is box stitched. More often the hanger is bar-tacked stiched in place. I'm not sure which method was used on the earliest 29191 contracts.

 

[Weasel_Loader]

You certainly know how to find these gems. Great photos and thanks for sharing.

 

[dujardin]

again a nice catch

 

[saucerfiend]

Thanks Brian. Have you noticed the mis-aligned collar snaps?

Andrew,
Funny... no I didn't. I was more interested in the overall condition, as I know you'd been having trouble locating a nice one. I'm sure the mis-aligned snaps are a small matter and as another member noted, it just adds to the character of this great wartime treasure. Enjoy it!

Brian

 

[Roughwear]

Brian, I don't mind at all. It's all part of the character of the jacket IMO.

 

[767fo]

The hanger is box stitched. More often the hanger is bar-tacked stiched in place. I'm not sure which method was used on the earliest 29191 contracts.

John box stitched my Bronco's hanger. Like you he said the norm was the bar-tacked stitch but he had seen the box stitch on a few originals and thought it would be a nice touch. I agreed

 

[DJS48]

The Bronco original I have, the hanger is boxed stitched and has a smaller sized a/n stamp. I bought this jacket from Marc W. many years ago and there is a photo of the smaller an stamp on "Acme Depot". This jacket was also "featured" last summer receiving treatment from Pecards, which IMO, give new "life" to the leather. Also, the sleeves of my jacket do not have ANY taper and appear wider as compared to Andrew's photos seem to show. I believe this supports the opinion discussed before of the variations within contracts and etc.

Cheers,
Don

 

[EmergencyIan]

A beautiful find, Andrew! It looks like you're more than happy to have it in your collection.

Does the upper back/back shoulder area need to be conditioned ot help preserve the jacket? Or, maybe I'm seeing a potential issue in the photographs that doesn't exist.


- Ian

 

[CBI]

excellent Andrew! Really nice. You must be getting all of these directly from other collectors...........

 

[Roughwear]

A beautiful find, Andrew! It looks like you're more than happy to have it in your collection.

Does the upper back/back shoulder area need to be conditioned ot help preserve the jacket? Or, maybe I'm seeing a potential issue in the photographs that doesn't exist.


- Ian

Ian, the hh is strong and robust throughout the jacket and the jacket has been conditioned with Pecards. The back is fine with no flaking, just a little honest wear!

 

[rrackleyadams]

Beautiful jacket. It's wild how different the color appears based on the lighting. This looks like 3 separate jackets to me depending on the photo.

 

[Roughwear]

It's all down to the lighting I guess! Most of the indoor pics were taken with a flash.

 

[dmar836]

Andrew. Super jacket!
I think the reason you are able to occasionally wear your examples is the supple condition you demand. Maybe newer members need to be aware of this and that this feature typically comes at a considerable cost over the average jacket.
Excellent find and I'm glad you are able to preserve these high end originals. They and your knowledge are excellent references for the rest of us!
Dave

 

[Roughwear]

Thanks for your positive comments Dave. I always try to buy original A2s that can be worn occasionally and upgrading examples is the way to go. But it takes considerable time to acquire really decent examples these days. I would not recommend wearing original A2s on a daily basis for obvious reasons.