Salute the Wonky - show us the wonky stitching etc on your original jacket

[Silver Surfer]

most of the original pre war a-2s that I have handled or seen have been made very well in terms of sizing, hide match [smooth panel on the front, grainy on the back, as the preferred hide was the smooth stuff], stitching dying, etc. as wwll unfolded many more jackets were required by the aaf. thus more stitching machine operators were required, and it would seem that some were somewhat untrained, and learned on the job. even so, a lot of these odd ball, one off jackets were approved by the aaf inspectors. perhaps demand trumped quality work, or the inspectors were easy with their stamps. about the only thing I haven't seen, is a pocket stitched to the back of an a-2.....doesnt mean that it may have happened, though.

 

[Wz1999]

Monarch A-2 Zipper

 

[mulceber]

Monarch A-2 Zipper
View attachment 76204

That one may well have been done by the same machine operator that did the wonky zipper on my Monarch.

 

[bseal]

Here’s another wartime original that I picked up from Vic (Silver Surfer) . The pockets are aligned correctly on this one But …. Take a look at the pocket on the left side of the photo . It’s bigger than the pocket on the right side . View attachment 69885

Any more pictures of this stunner Burt? Thank you.

 

[B-Man2]

Any more pictures of this stunner Burt? Thank you.

Here ya go B .

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

It must cost the (original) owner, some serious bucks, for those Artwork. Maybe after he sold the original bloodchit.

 

[Thomas Koehle]

Here ya go B .

View attachment 117489View attachment 117487View attachment 117491View attachment 117493View attachment 117495View attachment 117497View attachment 117499View attachment 117501View attachment 117503

I'm speechless

 

[B-Man2]

It’s going to be going up for sale soon, as I’m getting up there in age and I need to start finding good homes for these cool vintage pieces of history .

 

[bseal]

Here ya go B .

View attachment 117489View attachment 117487View attachment 117491View attachment 117493View attachment 117495View attachment 117497View attachment 117499View attachment 117501View attachment 117503

By far, my favorite original A-2 on our forum. Thank you Burt.

 

[B-Man2]

By far, my favorite original A-2 on our forum. Thank you Burt.

Thanks for the kind words B

 

[mulceber]

From an original that WZ just posted an ebay link to:

That is a wild x-box. The other epaulet is only a little better:

 

[Lord Flashheart]

On the bright side Jan, it is at least in the box!

 

[B-Man2]

From an original that WZ just posted an ebay link to:
View attachment 117651
That is a wild x-box. The other epaulet is only a little better:
View attachment 117653

What I find humorous is ……. That there probably wasn’t another person in all of WWII who would have noticed or cared about this wonky stitching …… but we as a group, to include myself …. search it out and analyze it ….
Now you gotta admit there’s a strange humor in that !

 

[Chandler]

Now you gotta see the strange humor in that !

Gotta be a generational thing.

Then again, they got handed A-2s and M-422s, we're dropping our own coin.

I often wonder how many AAF guys stood around asking each other why their uniforms weren't so uniform.

"Hey Joe, how's come your jacket is brown an' mine's is tan?"

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Maybe uniforms were like a box of chocolates. You never knew what you were gonna get ... ?

 

[Chandler]

Maybe uniforms were like a box of chocolates. You never knew what you were gonna get ... ?

I think that's exactly right.

Rollin at ATF is always calling out the whiners who complain when their khaki shirts & pants, or HBT sets don't match exactly.

Uh, it didn't quite work that way.

 

[dinomartino1]

G-1s with linings that were incorrectly matched to their needed size, ie too short.
This B-G 1950 contract, it has the effect ofmaking the waistband tight and bunching up the back panel, on the back it's easy to see, on this size 46 the waistband fits like a 40.
Maverickson went out of is way to tell me a lot about this jacket when I first got it and it's something he has come across before.
If I was ever to get a new jacket again in that price range there's nobody else I would ever consider buying a navy jacket from but him because of his love and knowledge for them.

 

[dinomartino1]

It is something that does not bother me I don't wear that jacket but this is how Maverickson fixed one his own jackets with the same problem. He had other work to do on the jacket but interesting to see a G-1 taken apart

 

[JonnyCrow]

What I find humorous is ……. That there probably wasn’t another person in all of WWII who would have noticed or cared about this wonky stitching …… but we as a group, to include myself …. search it out and analyze it ….
Now you gotta admit there’s a strange humor in that !

Haha Burt end of the daybit was work clothing, nice looking but work clothing, I wish I still had pics of the right pocket flap on my Perry, flap was stitched about 2 or 3 inches over towards the side seam haha

 

[JonnyCrow]

Reviving this old thread about factory faults, I think Jeff, Zu even mentioned blank stitch holes, well here's my original Aero pocket flap, both sides