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The Admiral's jacket, 1928
- Thread starter 2BM2K
- Start date
johnwayne
Well-Known Member
Surely that has to be a very soft leather like capeskin? I'm sure some of our members who've had their A1 a long time might be near that 'look' even with the more careful wear they've prob had! Persimmon's A1 in his avatar can't be far off and certainly fits him better than the Admiral's does!!
B-Man2
Well-Known Member
Or Carmel colored knits.
Skyhawk
Well-Known Member
This is a very interesting 37J1. It has similarities to another rare version that I have seen but is not an exact match and so I think it is a different maker. Note the snaps on the collar. No reinforcement tabs. Also note the button holes, they are squared off at the tail. The only 1920's aviation MFG I have seen do that is A.G Spalding & Bros. Being a large supplier of gear the military at the time, I think it is a great possibility that Spalding made this jacket.
The knits, could be that the waist and cuffs were replaced. They don't seem to match the collar knit. They appear that they could be tan or olive. This could be lighting but note that even the portion of the waist in shadow is still lighter than the collar. Note the cuffs, not really bell shaped like all the other 37J1 knits, like they could have been sewn together from a large piece of knitting. Granted this would be early for a knit replacement being in 1928, the jacket is probably less than 2 years old.
My guess is it is an early test jacket by A.G Spalding. The collar reinforcement tabs must have been specified after this jacket as the later 37J1's all have them.
Spalding 1920's buttonhole:
Regards,
Jay
The knits, could be that the waist and cuffs were replaced. They don't seem to match the collar knit. They appear that they could be tan or olive. This could be lighting but note that even the portion of the waist in shadow is still lighter than the collar. Note the cuffs, not really bell shaped like all the other 37J1 knits, like they could have been sewn together from a large piece of knitting. Granted this would be early for a knit replacement being in 1928, the jacket is probably less than 2 years old.
My guess is it is an early test jacket by A.G Spalding. The collar reinforcement tabs must have been specified after this jacket as the later 37J1's all have them.
Spalding 1920's buttonhole:
Regards,
Jay
Skyhawk
Well-Known Member
No I don't believe so. It looks like it follows the 37J1 specs other then the reinforced snaps. I believe this is a test jacket submitted for approval for a contract. How better to beta test them then to fly in them? The gov did this with the A-1 program having several MFGs submit a few jackets. Spalding was one of these MFGs.
The gov probably handed those out to the lucky few who got to test them out. Top pilots and officers. When the snaps started pulling through the knits, the reinforcement was added to the specs.
This process would also explain the XA-2 we have seen on Spatz et al, without the epaulets.
Regards,
Jay
silvio76
Well-Known Member
Thanks for your informations.
zoomer
Well-Known Member
About color: remember that the b/w films of the time responded differently to different hues, not just to intensities (lights/darks). Two adjacent colors like OD green and aircraft yellow would contrast dramatically to the eye, but on certain film chemistries, both would photograph dark!
So with some study of film characteristics, it might be possible to sort out likely colors of items such as leather and knits - or at least eliminate unlikely shades - based on how they photographed.
So with some study of film characteristics, it might be possible to sort out likely colors of items such as leather and knits - or at least eliminate unlikely shades - based on how they photographed.
