interesting WW II jacket--wish it could talk

[Dr H]

Now that I have the jacket in hand, I can confirm that the zipper is a blackened brass Talon (I haven't seen one of these before and it has been properly blackened all the way to the top including the stoppers).

It's a Hershey bar type Talon (marked on both sides of the puller). No sign of Talon on the stopper, but the traces of Made in USA on the back of the puller body - difficult to read as it has been well blackened.

Abercrombie and Fitch Co. New York labels to rear of neck and inside the right pocket - otherwise in all respects mil spec (including the olive green pocket lining and canvas lining to the map pocket).

Exceptionally well tailored jacket - the lining (Rayon/satin?) looks NOS and the goatskin is very supple.

Half and orange (theatre?) ticket stub in the pocket no. 137329. Reads

'Hanco...
'TH...
WEST RO...

Est price 61

Fed. Tax 06

GLOBE TICKET...

More info on rear 'Good only date purchased' etc.

 

[galvestonokie]

way off topic, but seems I heard an ?urban legend about a German U-Boat officer being captured in the Gulf of Mexico after his sub was sunk. probably off Louisiana. The story goes that he had a ticket stub in his jacket pocket from some musical or whatever in New Orleans. probably just Gulf Coast legend. bob

 

[asiamiles]

Half and orange (theatre?) ticket stub in the pocket no. 137329. Reads

'Hanco...
'TH...
WEST RO...

Est price 61

Fed. Tax 06

GLOBE TICKET...

More info on rear 'Good only date purchased' etc.

Hancock Village, West Roxbury MA, est. 1946?

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Got my first speeding ticket in W Roxbury, MA.

 

[Maverickson]

Hi All,

I wanted to revisit this thread to further discuss using a given model zipper to date any given jacket. Especially after hearing those opinions as to the approximate date of manufacture for that referenced AN-J3 jacket on this thread. It appeared to me that the consensus for the manufacture date of the AN-J3 jacket was the 1950s. All predicated on the notion that the Talon zipper seen attached to that jacket was not appropriately marked. Therefore, lending to the idea that the AN-J3 jacket was positively manufactured in the 1950s. To that end, I just recently picked up a jacket I thought might be an interesting candidate for a restoration project. As it turns out, that same pending project jacket of mine has a nickel Talon zipper assembly that might change some opinions.

This pending project jacket appears to date the mid 1940s. I say this for a couple of reasons & among them is that it has a pin locking slider marked Talon with a V. That slider is widely accepted as late war Talon hardware. As to whether or not this known mid 40s style slider is original to the jacket I can not say with absolute certainty. But believe it to be extremely likely that is original equipment as is the entire zipper assembly . All in spite of what is seen here http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/zipper-dating-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73890/ or what has become widely accepted as to the go to reference for an exact method of dating any particular jacket.

My pending restoration project with that zipper in question currently has a separating male insert which must be replaced. To keep it as original as possible I had planed on leaving the existing female side while replacing that failing male side. That pending replacement is seen with that jacket is a NOS M-43 Talon from MASH Co. Japan & seen below:


Below is a close up of my jacket's unmarked Talon assembly & proposed replacement. Please note that although unseen, this restoration jacket's original zip along with being unmarked has the old style folded type reinforced end at it's connection point. That type connection point is the same style as it's pending M-43 Talon replacement.



It is my contention that transitional type zippers were manufactured. Nor, am I ruling out that this unmarked Talon zipper seen attached to my jacket may very well be one of those transitional type Talon zippers. What I have seen on newer models zippers or say post 1947 type Talon zippers, besides being completely incompatible with the M-43, besides being unmarked, they were manufactured without a folded reinforced end. Moreover, those post 1947 or later model Talon zips I have handled were seen to have utilized a completely separate piece of material at that connection point to reinforce it's fabric tape.

In my mind, one must look a bit further than simply judging a particular style connection point to date any given jacket. That style of reinforcement used at the fabric connection along with a given model connector is a more proven method of confirming that process and should be used for further consideration. If there is one thing I have learned with this vintage jacket collecting and something that my father once told me that so often holds true, there are always exceptions and things are not always as they appear.

That pending project jacket of mine with it's unmarked Talon (with folded connection point) zipper & it's proposed M-43 Talon replacement zipper is seen below.



Cheers, Dave

 

[Technonut2112]

If I'm not mistaken, I could have sworn that I've seen the same zipper-pull as currently installed on your jacket before... On a 1940's AN-J-3 jacket in fact. Doesn't the 'V' on the puller stand for 'Victory', and produced in the 40's? Yes, right here:

http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/sale_anj3_0001.html

Zipper: 'original nickel M-43 V (Victory) Talon'

'V on the pull tab, which was a war-time V for Victory'.