Why no sale...

[spencer.hoglund]

As a newbie, can you guys please help me understand why has this jacket gone for so long on ebay, unsold...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WW-II-A2-Flight ... 25a0f4817a

I understand most of the painted patches were movie studio made, is that the presumption with this and thus the reason everyone is passing?

Is it because of the missing label?

The cuffs and waist look original and the back painting looks period, no?

I know that I know little on the subject compared to most of you reading this and am hoping this could be a good learning opportunity.

Thank you

 

[JDAM]

Good question. This jacket has been around for a while. So long that I pass it by. The price isn't unreasonable for a jacket of this quality. It has its downsides (you've mentioned a few) but the artwork is appealing. I expect the 'provenance' might be suspect e.g. the name in the lining does not correspond to anyone on the 320th roster. But the name could be that of the previous owner, as the jacket was clearly issued to more than one person as evidenced by the previous patches. Whoever is selling it would benefit from taking some photos in natural light. The artwork looks OK but the photos do it no justice.

 

[Roughwear]

Simon is correct here. The Aero is a size 38 which rules out many people today who might to wear it albeit occasionally.

 

[spencer.hoglund]

Thanks guys.

Is it safe to assume the front patch is a modern copy, or did they actually do them that way back in the day?

Likewise, is there any way to tell when a patch was put on the jacket? Is there a way to check for modern thread, etc...?

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Here's a real one from Ron at Flying Tiger Antiques, I know Ron personally and he knows his stuff. Looks to be the same patch -

 

[JDAM]

Thanks guys.

Is it safe to assume the front patch is a modern copy, or did they actually do them that way back in the day?

Likewise, is there any way to tell when a patch was put on the jacket? Is there a way to check for modern thread, etc...?

I think the jacket patch is good. The art also looks ok. Again, better pics would help. There's really no sure way to tell about stitching other than gut feeling when having the item in hand. Genuine wartime stitching obviously show signs of age such as depressions in the sewn material, tightening (or loosening) of stitches and build-up of dirt in and around stitch-holes and patch. An experienced person stands a reasonably good chance of determining good from bad. You can check with blacklight to see if the thread contains man-made fibers , though only a total amateur would use nylon thread to fix this patch to an original A-2. The blacklight test is a relic of the last century and I would only rely on it along with half a dozen other techniques.

 

[spencer.hoglund]

More thoughts:

There was a Dwight Pierce in the 320th BG, http://320thbg.org/roster_p.html

but...

I also found this online:

The serial number "0-721856" actually belonged to a "Henry Polanski"...

http://media.nara.gov/nw/305276/wwii-ar ... -texas.pdf

Does this make the jacket a fake?

 

[Bombing IP]

Your list states that Polanski was killed or missing ,so Gov issued property gets reissued to some one else that all it proves .

Bombing IP

Jeff

 

[a2jacketpatches]

We must also consider that guys were putting jackets together long before rosters and individual research was available on the internet. I know of one guy in particular that did this without any rhyme or reason, just being sure that the unit made sense. ETO stuff with ETO jackets, CBI stuff with CBI jackets, he found it so difficult himself to research names that it wasn't even a thought to just throw any name in there. This guy is just one of many. The recent post of a 23rd FG Grouping, certainly a bunch of stuff collected over time and recently married for a sale on Ebay.

 

[JDAM]

There was a Dwight Pierce in the 320th BG, http://320thbg.org/roster_p.html

The serial number "0-721856" actually belonged to a "Henry Polanski"...

Hmm, that's odd. I looked at another roster and couldn't find a D Pierce, but your list seems more up-to-date. But the fact the serial number is someone else's would be enough to prompt a lot of questions and some doubt.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Henry Lee Polanski flew a B-24 with the 856th BS and was KIA 3/31/45