Russet, then seal brown?

[33-1729]

Tastes change and during the 1930's it seemed smooth leather was preferred over the grainer leather many prefer today. No idea if russet was preferred over seal brown, but do recall that after WWII many civilians redyed used military leather jackets with a darker color, because the darker shade would more easily hide any "flaws" [what we now would call "history"].

As the contracts became larger and the hides became a bit rougher, was seal brown introduced to hide those “flaws” or was there another reason?

P.S. Seal brown is a fabulous color!

 

[Roughwear]

In the original A2 spec the colour of the leather was seal brown. In reality the colour ranged from russet to dark brown. Most of the surviving pre-War jackets were made from chrome tanned russet horse hide. Darker shades were preferred in the War as they showed less oil stains and soiling than the russet ones and therefore many re-issued A2s were redyed in a dark seal shade in air depots.

 

[33-1729]

Roughwear, thanks for the information!

Maybe the better question is “why did they use russet when the spec called for seal brown”?

 

[Roughwear]

That is a question for the US Materiel Division who organised the supply of leather for the makers! I would recommend you reading Gary Eastman's Type A-2 Flight jacket ID Manual.

 

[coalman]

That is a question for the US Materiel Division who organised the supply of leather for the makers! I would recommend you reading Gary Eastman's Type A-2 Flight jacket ID Manual.

Well recommended book, I cannot put my copy down.

 

[33-1729]

Thanks for the quick response!

The best answer I've seen so far was "… individual interpretation of the specifications ..." by Gary Eastman in the "Golden Book", but even someone completely colorblind would be able to differentiate between a light russet and a dark seal brown. Maybe the answer was "close enough" or "just ship it".

Tried to purchase Gary's A-2 book a short time ago, but had web site issues. Time to try again.

 

[Skyhawk]

I don't know..... what color is seal brown? It seems that even these guys don't know!

These are all brown seals yet some are Russet, Some are Seal, heck there is even a blondie in there!
Seriously though....
I have also heard it was just different interpretations of what "Seal" or "Dark Brown" means that caused the differing colors. Later on when the depot got the jackets back, they over-sprayed them (A horrible thought) with the more standard dark seal color that we know today. They were then re-issued to incoming Aircrew to use.

 

[33-1729]

Great picture, Skyhawk!

So started as a lighter [russet] seal brown, then shifted to a more functional darker shade that showed less staining or soiling. Makes sense!