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The Mighty A-2: A Guide to the Army Air Forces’ Leather Flying Jacket
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Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. W535-AC-13911 40-3785P
Contract Awarded: 18 December 1939 (EA2G plate 8)Date of Completion: unknown
Quantity: 3,500 jackets (EA2G plate 8)
Leather type: horsehide, based on visual appraisal (EA2G plate 8)
Stitch color: medium brown
Zipper(s):
General Comments:
Identifying/Distinguishing Details:
- Aero contract features:
- Bottom pocket corners were frequently more squared-off than other contractors.
- Relatively narrow epaulets (Acme Depot)
- The x-stitch on the epaulets outer edge of the shoulders is off-center, so that it appears to go off the edge of the shoulder. There are other makers that do this too, like Perry and Cable, but it is a detail worth noticing.
- Angular pocket flaps, normally rather wide, with some gentle scalloping, especially on earlier contracts.
- Top stitching of the cuff and waistband seen on Aero 38-1711P was dropped
- Collar stand
- Dot snaps
- Triangular reinforcement stitching on the pockets, although Eastman has one with rectangular reinforcement stitching (EA2G plate 8)
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Part II: The Draft – November 1940 - January 1942
In response to the outbreak of war in Europe and Japan’s escalating fiasco in China, in September of 1940, Congress passed and F.D.R. signed the Selective Training and Service Act, instituting a draft. By the end of the year, the U.S. Military had dramatically expanded in size, and industrial production likewise expanded in lock-step. Already by 1940, A-2 contracts had started to become larger, but the Air Corps was still averaging about one contract every 9 months. In the first week of November, 1940, however, they ordered two contracts that were each as large or larger than any previous A-2 contract. In the fourteen-month period that followed, the Air Force ordered an average of one A-2 contract every month. Nearly all of these contracts were larger than any contract from before the draft, and, as Eastman notes, this created pressure on the Army to simplify their demands. (EA2G 31-41).The increased strain on the production capacities of these companies is also probably the reason that we begin to see new companies entering the fray. Whereas before, A-2 production had been dominated by Aero and Werber, starting in 1940, new companies began receiving contracts: Rough Wear and Dubow, and, later on, Perry and Cable, would all become regular contractors for A-2 jackets. Every contract from here on may have included cowhide as cowhide Spec 12028 was approved 17-July-1940.
Lt. Jimmy Stewart, narrating the film Winning Your Wings in 1942
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Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. W535-AC-16160
Contract Awarded: 1 November 1940 (EA2G plate 9)Date of Completion: unknown
Quantity: 4,500 jackets (EA2G plate 9)
Leather type: horsehide/cowhide
Stitch color: medium brown (Chapman)
Zipper(s): The following zippers have been attested:
General Comments:
- Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. of Beacon, NY ceased business on April 1, 1941 and was replaced by a three-way partnership called Aero Leather Clothing Company (note the dropped incorporated designation). The original Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. contracts all used a collar stand on their contracts, including this contract. The later Aero Leather Clothing Co. contracts, by contrast, used a flat-sewn collar.
- This is the first jacket with the contract number on the label instead of the order number. In W535 the “W” was for the War Dept. and “535” was HQ Air Materiel Command, Wright Field
- This contract was worn by a number of the Doolittle Raiders, including Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, Dick Cole. It was also worn by Gen. Claire Chennault (GW).
- Aero contract features:
- Bottom pocket corners were frequently more squared-off than other contractors.
- Relatively narrow epaulets (Acme Depot)
- The x-stitch on the epaulets outer edge of the shoulders is off-center, so that it appears to go off the edge of the shoulder. There are other makers that do this too, like Perry and Cable, but it is a detail worth noticing.
- Angular pocket flaps, normally rather wide, with some gentle scalloping.
- Triangular reinforcement stitching on the pockets.
- Ring snaps - seen on all of Aero’s contracts from mid-1940 onward.
- Collar stand
- Use of Talon M-39 zippers
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Rough Wear Clothing Co. W535-AC-16159
Contract Awarded: 2 Nov. 1940 (EA2G plate 10; WSC 2703)Date of Completion: June 1941 (WSC 2703)
Quantity: 9,700 jackets (EA2G plate 10)
Leather type: horsehide/cowhide
Stitch color: medium brown
Zipper(s): We have only seen M-39 Talon straight pull zippers on this contract.
General Comments:
- This is the first contract purchased from the Rough Wear Clothing Co. While RW was a relative late-comer to A-2 production, they were in fact ideally placed for Air Force contracting: just eight blocks away from a U.S. Aviation Supply Depot in Middletown, PA.
- Rough Wears were very consistent across their six contracts. Among their features:
- The epaulets have little taper, a narrow double row of stitching running along each edge and have square x-box stitching (Acme Depot).
- Small retaining washers underneath the collar hook eyelets on the liner side. This was only done by Rough Wear and Monarch.
- Rough Wear used a collar stand on all their contracts
- straight-pull Talon M-39 zipper. The only Rough Wear contracts to feature this zipper were the first two contracts, 16159 and 18091. Since the 18091 was made exclusively in goatskin, any horsehide/cowhide Rough Wear with a straight-pull Talon-M-39 is almost certainly a 16159.
- The pocket flaps on this contract normally have a more defined shape than the more blobby flaps that are seen on Rough Wear’s other contracts. This is the result of a tighter seam allowance on the pockets of this contract than was employed later on. This is probably the shape that Rough Wear was always going for, but rarely achieved, due to demands of production.
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Rough Wear Clothing Co. W535-AC-18091
Contract Awarded: 6 March 1941 (EA2G plate 11; WSC 2703)Date of Completion: July 1941 (WSC 2703)
Quantity: 17,628 jackets (EA2G plate 11)
Leather type: goatskin - the leather on this contract tended to patina in an unusual way, and many of the jackets in this contract have darker, blotchy patches, as can be seen in the first example, below.
Stitch color: dark brown (Chapman)
Zipper(s): We have only seen Talon M-39 straight pull zippers on this contract.
General Comments:
Identifying/Distinguishing Details:
- The first possible contract to contain goatskin as goatskin Spec 12022-A was approved 10-Mar-1941. All contracts from here on may also contain goatskin.
- First known contract made of goatskin and all known survivors are goatskin.
- This is the only Rough Wear contract known to be made in goatskin.
- Rough Wears were very consistent across their six contracts. Among their features:
- The epaulets have little taper, a narrow double row of stitching running along each edge and have square x-box stitching (Acme Depot).
- Round pocket flaps that come to a rounded center point (Acme Depot).
- Small retaining washers underneath the collar hook eyelets on the liner side. This was only done by Rough Wear and Monarch.
- Rough Wear used a collar stand on all their contracts
- Straight-pull Talon M-39 zipper. The only Rough Wear contracts to feature this zipper were the first two contracts, 16159 and 18091.
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Rough Wear Clothing Co. W535-AC-20958 42-1401-P
Contract Awarded: 8 Aug 1941 (EA2G plate 12)Date of Completion: unknown
Quantity: 30,000 jackets (EA2G plate 12)
Leather type: horsehide/cowhide
Stitch color: mid-brown or dark brown (Chapman)
Zipper(s): The following zippers have been attested. Others are possible. They are listed in approximate order of the frequency with which they have been encountered:
General Comments:
- The jacket worn by Jimmy Stewart during his service (and in his promotional films for the Air Force) was from this contract.
- Rough Wears were very consistent across their six contracts. Among their features:
- The epaulets have little taper, a narrow double row of stitching running along each edge and have square x-box stitching (Acme Depot).
- Round pocket flaps that come to a rounded center point (Acme Depot).
- Small retaining washers underneath the collar hook eyelets on the liner side. This was only done by Rough Wear and Monarch.
- Rough Wear used a collar stand on all their contracts
- Crown zipper and brown thread, although this isn’t a reliable identifying marker, since brown thread and crown zippers are frequently seen on the 23380 and occasionally on the 27752.
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Werber Sportswear Co. W535-AC-20959 42-1402-P
Contract Awarded: 8 August 1941 (EA2G plate 13)Date of Completion: unknown
Quantity: 7,000 jackets (EA2G plate 13)
Leather type: horsehide/cowhide
Stitch color: dull brown (Chapman)
Zipper(s):
The following zippers have been attested. Others are possible. They are listed in approximate order of the frequency with which they have been encountered:
General Comments:
Identifying/Distinguishing Details:
- Like all Werbers, the pocket flaps are nicely scalloped and come to a rounded point in the center (Acme Depot).
- Collar hooks riveted to the collar stand. This is the only Werber contract to have this feature.
- Box-stitch reinforcement at the pocket corners (Acme Depot).
- The knits on Werber contracts were normally a light, caramel brown. They are the only manufacturer to use this color.
- No top-stitching near where the knits are attached. This is the only Werber contract to lack this feature.
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