Californian Horsehide Jackets

[Happy Hooligan]

thought it might be nice to start a Californian Jacket thread.

This is mine not sure of the model's name, but goodwear makes a very similar copy of it...

Mines a 44, but a really big 44 (especially considering the age)

I think I need a 42.

Anybody have one that they'd like to sell or trade for a 44?

 

[bseal]

Got any pictures of the back of it?

 

[Happy Hooligan]

these shots were right after I got it and oiled it up with pecards...

I'll try to get some "action shots" of what it looks like on this weekend.

I really love this style of jacket, but with it were a tad bit smaller...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

1930s-40s, styled by Ronnie Reagan. I know of tie-ins with at least 2 others - Alan Ladd and George Brent. Really well made, and "washable goatskin". Californian made some sweet jackets … I can't quite work out from Tanaka's books whether the pink or grren mountains are the first pattern label. He says one thing in one book, but appears to say the opposite in the other book.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I nicked these images from an eBay auction a while back. Styled by George Brent.

 

[deeb7]

1930s-40s, styled by Ronnie Reagan. I know of tie-ins with at least 2 others - Alan Ladd and George Brent.

I have my step father's jacket, with the Styled by Alan Ladd label. Late '40's, it's a conventional suede sportscoat style, with patch pockets ... the mountains are pink.

Carl, you shoulda picked one of the short ones.

 

[asiamiles]

Do you think these were really styled by the actors or is it more likely a simple case of product endorsement? That Ronnie Reagan is a very nice one. My Californian repro by Toyo can be found in the General Discussion forum.

 

[deeb7]

... or is it more likely a simple case of product endorsement?

That one ...

Now that I look again, the actual wording on mine is THE NEW ALAN LADD SUEDE MASTERPIECE.

 

[asiamiles]

I don't know about Ladd, without checking, but those labels reveal both Reagan and Brent were under contract to Warner Bros at the time, so it seems this was some sort of collaborative promotion between studio and clothing company. I guess it's the sort of thing I associate more with the world of today than with 1940's.

I actually know next to nothing about Californian, but this suggests they were quite high end.

 

[deeb7]

I actually know next to nothing about Californian, but this suggests they were quite high end.

Mine is beautiful, very fine soft suede, and features a lot of hand stitching.

... but then for JC to adopt them, you know they had to be good.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I think there's some mileage for dating them in the "Warner Brothers First National Star" designation. At some point after the takeover, Warner Bros stopped crediting First National but I don't think this was until the middle-late '50s. Reagan, for one, was only a star - and even that's tenuous - for a very very brief period in the late 1930s and early 40s. He really was a dreadful actor, as became apparent and necessitated his move to B movies etc. His corny delivery actually works quite well in b movies. Also, i've been able to find ads for the Alan Ladd tie-in/cross-marketing, but nothing for the Reagan or Brent. There is mention in an Orlando Sentinel article from 1987, but i've been unable to track down such an ad.

After the war, ex-servicemen on the GI Bill wore their flight jackets on campus, partly because they were comfortable, utilitarian garments, and partly because they had ''war hero'' written all over them.

''The fashion industry picked it up almost immediately and came out with a civilian counterpart,'' said Jack Hyde, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in New York. ''It was good looking then, and it's a classic today.''

A 1940s advertisement for one of these fashion-version flight jackets is now famous: It was run by the California Sportwear Co., and was modeled by a young contract actor by the name of Ronald Reagan.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I also found this while trying to find out about the Reagan jackets. Alan Ladd ad:

bk

 

[deeb7]

Thanks for the ad, BK ... mine's the sand colour, but with narrower lapels, and three patch pockets.

That one's looking a little short on Alan.

 

[kdallas71]

Some shots of my California Sportswear "Californian" size 46

 

[Happy Hooligan]

Perfect fit on that one!

I think Californian is my favorite vintage jacket manuf. Each one has a unique look and each one has aged to perfection... I wonder if their horsehide was just for them or other makers used it also?

I haven't seen one though with my same cuff set up yet.

 

[RCSignals]

Yours is definitely unique in it's features Happy H.

Goodwear really needs to reproduce yours.

 

[bjoy]

1930s-40s, styled by Ronnie Reagan. I know of tie-ins with at least 2 others - Alan Ladd and George Brent. Really well made, and "washable goatskin". Californian made some sweet jackets … I can't quite work out from Tanaka's books whether the pink or grren mountains are the first pattern label. He says one thing in one book, but appears to say the opposite in the other book.

Looks like Ronnie and Dane had similar tastes. (Pictures below from a currently active eBay auction.)

 

[asiamiles]

One says Styled BY Ronnie Reagan, while the other says Styled FOR Dane Clark.

 

[Who]

That's awesome.

That first jacket on Page 1 Happy's jacket is a dead ringer for Bruce Willis' jacket in the shitfull movie Surrogates.

 

[Chris217]

thought it might be nice to start a Californian Jacket thread.

This is mine not sure of the model's name, but goodwear makes a very similar copy of it...

Mines a 44, but a really big 44 (especially considering the age)

I think I need a 42.

Anybody have one that they'd like to sell or trade for a 44?

That looks alot like the jacket Mike Wolfe wears on the History Channels "American Pickers."