Mystery Jacket -- Please Help Identify

[ClayBertrand]

After joining VLJ, reading countless posts here and enviously drooling over all of the members BEAUTIFUL jackets, I am finally posting a query because I am at a loss and the VLJ is a logical place to turn to with this Jacket I cannot ID. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I am attempting to post pics. I've been trying to ID this piece for about a year to no avail. I traded a Vintage HorseHide Police jacket for this after an ebay bidder failed to pay for it after winning its auction. It has a bit of a Highwayman appearance but it seems to be a uniform perhaps military or police??

It has Scovil snaps, Brass Talon Tear Drop pulls on the pockets, and super-sadly, a broken Crown (Chevron teeth) Main zipper. It has basically flawless olive drab green corduroy lining that shows no signs of having been relined. There are no labels or tags anywhere nor evidence of any prior label. It also has Snap Down collars which is not very common in my experience with vintage civilian jackets and it has storm sleeve inner cuffs (that keep air from entering the sleeves). The leather is extremely heavy and it is the best fitting Vintage jacket I have ever found. I am 6'0" 170lbs and this jacket is 27" from Base of Collar to bottom of the rear so it doesn't run as short as most vintage jackets yet it is not a half belt. It has no epaulettes, waistline expansions/adjusters, sleeve zippers, elastic, or gussets so it doesn't appear as a flight or motorcycle jacket.

Please see the attached pictures. Can anyone shed any light on this jacket for me???

Also, in a related question, what would the VLJ Members recommend for fixing or replacing this Crown Zipper?? As old Crowns are impossible to locate these days and Eastman refuses to sell their awesome reproductions (FOR ANY PRICE), I have been researching how to best properly and authentically replace or fix the zipper. Beyond the impossible--finding a working old Crown---my only Plan B is to source a New-Old Stock #10 Brass Talon which is likely not period specific but would at least match the Tear Drop Talon pulls.

Thanks to VLJ for all the collaborative input I've read here as well as all the great jacket pics!!

 

[robrinay]

With that lining it could be a one off or a short run by a small tailors shop somewhere in the USA? In short it may not be by one of the larger manufacturers hence your difficulty in finding a matching jacket on the web with a label.
With regard to replacing the old Crown, check out eBay and Etsy for cheap period cloth jackets with vintage zippers. you can use as donors, or go to Mash Japan.

 

[Southoftheborder]

It looks like a post war forties US jacket. It would have a had a label I expect which got lost. It could have been made by any number of companies and sold with their own label. Or made by one of them for Sears or Montgomery Ward; or one of the other big stores and mail order companies who would have had their own label in it.

That snap collar is unusual in those jackets though.

 

[MikeyB-17]

I’m not sure that Crown is original. It looks like a double row of stitching in one of the pics, my guess is that it may have had a Talon to match the rest-which might make your task easier. Some manufacturers did mix zips on the same jacket, but I would say a Talon would be a good bet. It’s a cool jacket, probably intended for motorcycling, hence the snap-down collar. Very much a Highwayman style. Police jackets tended to have a badge holder on the chest.

 

[ClayBertrand]

Thanks for all the posts. After having many educated eyes on this jacket in this forum and others, there is a steady consensus that it has been re-lined. This is certainly possible though no obvious signs exist to know for sure. It is also possible that either the main zipper, or the Talon Tear Drop pocket zips may have been added at another time as their vintage doesn't seem entirely consistent. The Crown Two Way zipper started in 1943 and was only used in war applications (namely it was used in shrouds for gun turrets because the symmetrical teeth made its design able to zip easily in a tight rounded oval shape around the operating parts of the weapon). It entered civilian use post 1944. The Talon Tear Drops supposedly date to the 60s although I have seen them dated as late 50s as well.

With the Crown zipper being a product of WWII, and the other zippers being as much as 25 years more recent, perhaps the Crown was original and the Talons were added perhaps along with a re-lining.

As some here have suggested, it could also have been a small run in a local/regional shop or perhaps, a custom made item.

Another hard to prove theory is that it is perhaps a Taubers of California jacket and could even have been a custom made item from them.

It's jacket forensics as I heard it put!!!!!!!!!!

I appreciate all of your suggestions and posts.

-CB

 

[Silver Surfer]

taubers is a good guess. lakeland, sportclad, sears,etc are possibilities, as well. my thought is that a] the crown zipper is a replacement [looking at the stitching at the top], b] the collar snaps were added after production, c] the liner is likely replaced [nicely i might add], and d] it is possible that the jacket was redyed. this is mere speculation from looking at the pix. dating the jacket? late 40s-50s would be my guess. i would also venture that it is a "police" style jacket. all in all, its super cool,, and that it is in such good condition,, and more importantly, it fits ya well, i would say that ya got your self a winner wearer.

 

[ClayBertrand]

taubers is a good guess. lakeland, sportclad, sears,etc are possibilities, as well. my thought is that a] the crown zipper is a replacement [looking at the stitching at the top], b] the collar snaps were added after production, c] the liner is likely replaced [nicely i might add], and d] it is possible that the jacket was redyed. this is mere speculation from looking at the pix. dating the jacket? late 40s-50s would be my guess. i would also venture that it is a "police" style jacket. all in all, its super cool,, and that it is in such good condition,, and more importantly, it fits ya well, i would say that ya got your self a winner wearer.

Thanks brother!! I really appreciate your insight into this. I do see where you and other posters have identified an overstitch along the main zipper seam. It is the only place on the whole jacket that anything like this is visible. Because it doesn't seem evident anywhere else that the zipper was replaced, I think its potentially original. That couple inch stretch of overstitch is not accompanied by any other puncture holes that would likely result from a restitch. Just, generally speaking, the Crown zipper is an odd choice/option as a replacement zipper as they were prone to failure and I think there were other options such as Talon's that would have been a better choice. But maybe the owner or tailor just had a Crown available so they used it. At any rate, something isn't matching up here with the Zipper vintages indicating either the main only, the pocket zips only, OR BOTH were replaced. It doesn't really lend itself to an easy ID'ing investigation if its re-lined, and has all the zippers replaced. Any ID'ing will only be possible if someone finds an exact jacket like this with more identifiable and traceable traits. Its still fun to try to figure out this kinda thing for me. The Members here are very astute and good at noticing the details in these jackets.

Regarding the collar snaps, I feel that they are likely original because of the short collar design (looks as if it was made to be a snap down) and the fact that the snaps are match the Scovill cuff snaps exactly. Now perhaps ALL the snaps were added at a later date--or the collar snaps were sourced to match the cuffs?? Anything is possible here. As to age, I am at a true loss. I kinda feel it may be a late 50s vintage. Most of the 40s and 50s jackets seem to have buttons instead of snaps as perhaps, snaps hadn't yet become common in clothing. Maybe by the late 50s, snaps were coming into the picture?? I am in the process of purchasing replacement Main Zipper options for this coat and am attempting to replace the broken original crown. I have a Coats & Clark (C&C) which is the later incarnation of Crown (which became J&P Coats, which became Coats & Clark which became C&C) on the way in brass and if that is the correct gauge, (a #10) I will have it installed. Otherwise, I will default to a NOS #10 Talon in brass.

I have over 100 jackets and NONE OF THEM fit anywhere close to how this one does. Its also a unique one somewhat.

Thanks for your interest and for taking the time to post and give your input.

Much appreciated.

 

[Silver Surfer]

yeah, its an odd one. like so many vintage jackets, anything and everything is possible. perhaps you are correct, seeing that those brass talon pullers are a bit later. still, its weird that it has a 40s crown main zipper. go figure.