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1945 N-1 Jacket Restoration

Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
Recently bought this N-1 on eBay. Shell was ripped, in poor condition. All else surprisingly good shape. Interior wool clean and good condition, collar not worn through like most are. Label intact and good condition. Cuffs look like new. Talon zip is a replacement from around eighties, these are close to forties appearance if you don't know the difference (rectangular, or Hershey Bar). Oddly the shell is poor. Forearms are shredded, and a couple of vertical tears in the front. Most of these WW2 cloth jackets are in variable not great condition. Even the best I don't think you would wear on a regular basis. So I decided this was a good restoration project. I've restored the sleeves by getting some cotton twill in olive drab, close to the original shade, but the original fabric has faded over 78 years so it doesn't match. So I've glued this in behind the original fabric to repair it. This is probably the only way to do this, as sewing would look bad, and also would be a heck of a lot of work. I'm calling it a field repair. I'm pretty close to finishing the patching. Now I just need to sew a couple of button holes by hand. As I say, it is wearable now, but I don't think anyone would wear even the best example as a daily wearer. I was looking at the best example on Etsy, and the guy want's $1730 for it, and it has some flaws too. The label on mine is better, and so is the collar. I only paid $200 for this. Not sure why I did it, actually, just that now I have an original example of a WW2 N-1. The contract is Birk-Ray out of NY awarded by the US Navy in February 1945.
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Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
I've put this on over a Navy sweater that I have, and darn it all it is a heavy coat. Any jacket that is not heavy is a fraud/fake. A true deck jacket is heavy/ maybe with dirt. Heavy.
 

Dumpster D

Well-Known Member
That Jacket has unusual damage. Like it was left frozen on the ground in a shed or garage.

Your repairs look good. I've got a couple $10 Jackets I'll have to post for you.
 

Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
Interesting theory. If it was torn from frozen ground then damage would only be on one side. The rest of the jacket is in such good shape I couldn't see it being left sitting like that. It would end up being really skanky and it's not.
 

Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
I notice the number 86 hand written on both the label and the back of the collar. This is a ship number?
Did some research and found that 86 probably refers to the USS Vicksburg. Can't be one hundred per cent certain but it's pretty likely. So the jacket has an interesting provenance now.

 
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