PickerWilly
Well-Known Member
Another day, another A-2…
This one is an Aero Leather Clothing Company 21996 (October 1941 I believe) in stellar shape. This jacket is named to Roy E Burge who served as a pilot. Mr. Burge passed away in 2000 in my hometown, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Research beyond that is ongoing.
This jacket had a very long life post-war as evidenced by some tasteful repair work and the all-too-common house paint (standard 1950s colors like canary yellow). I really appreciate that this jacket clearly got a ton of use after the war and love the little details and repairs over its long life. The pockets have been re-sewn but retain their original United-Carr snaps. The knits have also been replaced with a dark brown instead of the classic Aero brick red knits. Zipper is a Talon which I believe is original to this jacket. The leather is incredibly soft and supple and has some gorgeous wear to it. The sleeves have great honeycombing. This jacket has some amazing broken grain panels. The liner is solid with standard collar wear. The AN Y79 stamp is still visible along with the remains of the white Army Air Forces stamp below the tag.
The leather was pretty dry when it arrived, but a conservative coat of Pecard Antique Leather Dressing has brought so much life back into this jacket. I try to avoid treatment unless the jacket can handle it or it is absolutely necessary. The (read: very conservative, light) treatment brought out some of the great wear and red undertones of the dye applied at the tannery some 83 years ago. This jacket is certainly wearable on light duty, for someone who doesn't match my gangly 6’5” 200-pound proportions. I will add to this post with another about Mr. Burge when more information is available.
Feel free to check out this jacket along with some of my others as well as some other neat bits of militaria and military timepieces on my instagram @PickerWilly if you feel so inclined.
My A-2 collection now represents 4 different manufacturers and 5 contracts (two of my jackets are different Perry Sportswear contracts).
This one is an Aero Leather Clothing Company 21996 (October 1941 I believe) in stellar shape. This jacket is named to Roy E Burge who served as a pilot. Mr. Burge passed away in 2000 in my hometown, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Research beyond that is ongoing.
This jacket had a very long life post-war as evidenced by some tasteful repair work and the all-too-common house paint (standard 1950s colors like canary yellow). I really appreciate that this jacket clearly got a ton of use after the war and love the little details and repairs over its long life. The pockets have been re-sewn but retain their original United-Carr snaps. The knits have also been replaced with a dark brown instead of the classic Aero brick red knits. Zipper is a Talon which I believe is original to this jacket. The leather is incredibly soft and supple and has some gorgeous wear to it. The sleeves have great honeycombing. This jacket has some amazing broken grain panels. The liner is solid with standard collar wear. The AN Y79 stamp is still visible along with the remains of the white Army Air Forces stamp below the tag.
The leather was pretty dry when it arrived, but a conservative coat of Pecard Antique Leather Dressing has brought so much life back into this jacket. I try to avoid treatment unless the jacket can handle it or it is absolutely necessary. The (read: very conservative, light) treatment brought out some of the great wear and red undertones of the dye applied at the tannery some 83 years ago. This jacket is certainly wearable on light duty, for someone who doesn't match my gangly 6’5” 200-pound proportions. I will add to this post with another about Mr. Burge when more information is available.
Feel free to check out this jacket along with some of my others as well as some other neat bits of militaria and military timepieces on my instagram @PickerWilly if you feel so inclined.
My A-2 collection now represents 4 different manufacturers and 5 contracts (two of my jackets are different Perry Sportswear contracts).
