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Value Vs price of a WW2 jacket

Officer Dibley

Well-Known Member
For shits & giggles i thought it would be interesting to see what an A-2 should cost the Govt today .

Based on a $9 original cost to procure per unit in 1942, the value of that $9 now would be $143 in 2018.

Think about that when you look at cheap A-2's and think about the quality that that buys you.

There are of course thinks like higher per capita wages and sheer volume but it doesn't equate to a $1500 jacket.........
 

Brettafett

Well-Known Member
Aahhhhhh, but......
Horsehide or Goatskin? (or Cowhide?) (or simply the cheapest hide available?)
Which Govt? Assume you're referring to US Govt..?
I doubt they would look specifically at a top-tier makers, but would put out a tender with a general spec, in which case I recon someone like Cockpit or G&B would weigh in.
Cockpit's Gvt Horsehide A-2s are approx $700, and are nice.... Some of the other models are cheaper... G&B even cheaper still...
Then again, this could possibly resurrect old Cooper. I can only imagine these A-2s patterns though :confused: (but the Govt wouldn't care about that).
I can imagine someone like AVI giving it a good go, but can also imagine the 'made in...' debate raging a fire. Surely they'd stipulate 'made in the good ol' USA'!
Interesting topic.
 

Officer Dibley

Well-Known Member
The good 'ol US Govt of course :D

Ofcourse i'm messing with folks on ths, there are too many other factors to take it too seriously.

But would you expect a $150 jacket to hold up to too much abuse ?

It is something i have thought about as i've seen some good looking A-2'son ebay for £100-£150 that aren't that far off in cut and perhaps are more authentic in cost and spirit. And you'd wear a jacket like that as if you'd stolen it: use and abuse !
As the "clone" jackets get ever more expensive to provide a level of asserted authenticity, i've started looking at the really cheap A-2's out there.
 

Brettafett

Well-Known Member
I know I may sound like a broken record, but that Danish/ Pakistani collaboration has turned out a whoppingly nice A-2 in their Bronco.
Any WW2 P-51 driver would be happy with one of those I'm sure. And at those prices, so would the US Govt be....! :)
That said: May I offer for consideration Bob Dong's B-10.... For winter!
(If I'm not mistaken, B-10s were also around $9 a pop? Same price as an A-2 back then.)
 
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dmar836

Well-Known Member
I still consider $150 to be a lot for a jacket. A-2s are luxury items. Remember, those WWII guys just wanted to get home, buy a simple small home, a used car, maybe go to college, and marry their high school sweetheart. Labor was cheap but so were expectations. Now every worker expects a McMansion, a giant gas-hog SUV, a Harley, new appliances, granite counter tops - the list goes on. For the sole proprietor or small shop - all the more important. The labor portion, along with its retirement plans and health care, has become the expensive part of producing anything. What might be most shocking is to consider wages paid to some of the Indian or other emerging economies kids along with the sizeable price tags of these luxury items.
I wonder what a motor vehicle analysis would reveal?
Interesting topic,
Dave
 

Pilot

Well-Known Member
US Govt. purchases a lot of Military supplies and items directly from abroad, even wappons ( from Italy-Germany etc...), optics (Germany), Aircrafts EU/UK ( Harrier...etc). Drone turbines (Jetcat etc..) plus... plus... plus...
...so why not flight jackets...you never know...
 

Ken at Aero Leather

Well-Known Member
Costing has more to do with volume of scale than anything else
When 90% + of Aero's production was the same Black Horsehide Half Belt (1992-1994 period), production numbers practically doubled with the same number of staff.
Similarily during the early 21st Century a few months spent working almost exclusively on the one Levi Vintage jacket, same thing happened 50% increase in weekly numbers at least
That's how the prices were so low to the USAAF
 

Ken at Aero Leather

Well-Known Member
As we spend more on our houses/homes than any other product, how would they rate against our greatest outlays? 1942 v. 2018

Checked for myself
1942 Average US House $3700
2018 Average US House $217000
58 times the price of the 1942 House

1942 $9 Jacket at this rate of inflation would cost $486, that's a closer estimate
Of course in The UK house prices aren't including in the Retail Price (inflation) Index.............that's a joke,
I imagine The US will be the same, Blair & Clinton having being joined at the trough

If the USAAF wanted to order 25000 jackets @ $486 in one go I'm pretty sure there are quite a few makers out there who would be glad to accept the contract
 

Juanito

Well-Known Member
Checked for myself
1942 Average US House $3700
2018 Average US House $217000
58 times the price of the 1942 House

1942 $9 Jacket at this rate of inflation would cost $486, that's a closer estimate
Of course in The UK house prices aren't including in the Retail Price (inflation) Index.............that's a joke,
I imagine The US will be the same, Blair & Clinton having being joined at the trough

If the USAAF wanted to order 25000 jackets @ $486 in one go I'm pretty sure there are quite a few makers out there who would be glad to accept the contract

The problem is that we are kind of comparing apples and oranges here considering that the average size house in the 1940s was about 1,100 SF vs. about 2,600 SF today. Even with the expanding girth of Americans, the jacket cannot compare on the raw material end of things.

A better comparison would be the "reissued" Cooper or Saddlery A-2 which could be had for $139 if purchased directly from Cooper for $179-$199 retail. That's been quite a few years, but a pretty fair comparison. I would guess the military got them for far less than that as they were wholesaled to the local Army/Navy shops for $99.

I am not up on what the USAF or the Navy is issuing these days, but for all I know they are still giving out G-1s and the horrid A-2 with the hand warmer pockets.
 

silvio76

Well-Known Member
US Govt. purchases a lot of Military supplies and items directly from abroad, even wappons ( from Italy-Germany etc...), optics (Germany), Aircrafts EU/UK ( Harrier...etc). Drone turbines (Jetcat etc..) plus... plus... plus...
...so why not flight jackets...you never know...
They can not do that, because of Berry amendment. You can find more about this on Wiki. Link is here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_Amendment
 

Pilot

Well-Known Member
OK,...
but why the (US Army and) USMC is equiped with Heckler and Koch G-36C, Beretta M9A1 all very recent orders and contracts. (also in Wikipedia).
USN is equiped with Zeiss 20x60 Autofocus and all Hensoldt (Germany) 7x50 and 10x50 Marine Binos... again very recent orders (also Fudji binos in use).
US Army is equiped with Steiner 7x50 and 10x50 binos with Compass.
US Marines still fly the Harrier and ordered a few more
Most of the smaller observation drones have the Jetcat turbines (made in Staufen/Germany)
etc.etc...
Some info can be found officially, some you only see when you meet the users.

See that they even bought SIG from the all neutral Switzerland...

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.ph...h&go=Go&searchToken=ce5s6mv29g5d1y5hqci04njyr
 
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silvio76

Well-Known Member
OK,...
but why the (US Army and) USMC is equiped with Heckler and Koch G-36C, Beretta M9A1 all very recent orders and contracts. (also in Wikipedia).
USN is equiped with Zeiss 20x60 Autofocus and all Hensoldt (Germany) 7x50 and 10x50 Marine Binos... again very recent orders (also Fudji binos in use).
US Army is equiped with Steiner 7x50 and 10x50 binos with Compass.
US Marines still fly the Harrier and ordered a few more
Most of the smaller observation drones have the Jetcat turbines (made in Staufen/Germany)
etc.etc...
Some info can be found officially, some you only see when you meet the users.

See that they even bought SIG from the all neutral Switzerland...

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.ph...h&go=Go&searchToken=ce5s6mv29g5d1y5hqci04njyr
Maybe they do not have this kind and quality weapons.
 

Pilot

Well-Known Member
Maybe they do not have this kind and quality weapons.
Absolutely no, they have...but:
The US Govt. has a very sophisticated bidding system, also for their arms and military gear purchases.
If "you" fit in, they buy.
Its a bit shown (romanced, but based on a true story...) in the movie "the war dogs" ...The fact that they bought Beretta handguns is abolutely true and real (shown in the movie)..the others hmmm...romance...
All products have US competition, but somehow the (or some) US product(s) does (do) not fit in...when bidding is closed.
 
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Officer Dibley

Well-Known Member
Checked for myself
1942 Average US House $3700
2018 Average US House $217000
58 times the price of the 1942 House

1942 $9 Jacket at this rate of inflation would cost $486, that's a closer estimate
Of course in The UK house prices aren't including in the Retail Price (inflation) Index.............that's a joke,
I imagine The US will be the same, Blair & Clinton having being joined at the trough

If the USAAF wanted to order 25000 jackets @ $486 in one go I'm pretty sure there are quite a few makers out there who would be glad to accept the contract

I used a website that does not take housing into the calc for very good reasons Ken. It ain't a simple public maths calc. Usually it is linked to cheap staples.
 
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