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EASTMAN MUSTANG

m444uk

m444uk

Active Member
"Purchased in 1999. This jacket was special made for me out of a special run of wild mustang horsehide and, as you can see in the pictures, the horsehide shows the open range wearing on the hide"

Er...A2 weight horsehide comes from Italy where horses are raised for meat. That jacket looks like calfskin to me, a leather Eastman where using in that era.
 
ausreenactor

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
I remember the caramel Mustang hides being advertised soon after I found the internet in 1997. They did not make too many. I had purchased a RW 1401-P and 27752 by then and seemed content. That 27752 is my Murder Inc. A-2. They were on my radar on the HPA website when they popped up. My catalogue predates 1999... wish I had bought more back then...Pre-Wife days..

His receipt seems legit..??

The current price is WELL worth it.. I reckon mid $600s at the end.

Couchy
 
FlyingYankee

FlyingYankee

Active Member
The color looks similar to JCs Red Japanese horsehide. A color I like very much. If I am going to ppay 600 for it I might as well get a new one from BK or JC
 
Vcruiser

Vcruiser

Well-Known Member
airfrogusmc said:
Maybe cows too. Wasn't that the daisy gate time frame?
Click to expand...

Careful Allen
You'll be taken away in leg irons and end up in a cold dank dark dungeon..I fear.

Lester (fake name)
 
airfrogusmc

airfrogusmc

Well-Known Member
Jeff M said:
airfrogusmc said:
Maybe cows too. Wasn't that the daisy gate time frame?
Click to expand...

Not familiar with "Daisygate".
Cow hide being passed off as horse?
Click to expand...

Hide of default I think was the term used.

The word horse hide was never used in the advertising only hide....
 
airfrogusmc

airfrogusmc

Well-Known Member
Vcruiser said:
airfrogusmc said:
Maybe cows too. Wasn't that the daisy gate time frame?
Click to expand...

Careful Allen
You'll be taken away in leg irons and end up in a cold dank dark dungeon..I fear.

Lester (fake name)
Click to expand...


:lol: :lol: :lol: I think theres still plenty of info over at The Classic 20th...
 
stubbyeighth

stubbyeighth

Member
I have one of these "mustang hide" A-2s. Bought it back from HPA in 1999. There were only about 20 or so made, as I recall. Originally the caramel hide was suposed to be for a run of Monarchs.

About the hide: first off: it's the thickest yet softest, and just plain nicest hide I've ever had on a repro jacket, and I've owned jackets from all of the major repro makers. A lot of pronounced grain, but it lacks the "out-of-the-box" deep creases that characterize a lot of original A-2s and many of JC's hides. That being said, mine has developed a lot of creasing in areas that flex a lot: along and to the sides of the windflap, around the pockets and collar area, and certainly the arms.

The dye on the hide, however, sucks. The original caramel color was nice enough, but soon wears off, but not as it did on original aniline dyed A-2's. You can see this happening around the collar in the ebay photos. Mine eventually wore to a nearly white ring around the collar. Original A-2's darken around the collar. Makumbe or Rottenhahn or whatever his last incarnation was on this forum had an explanation for this. I forget the details exactly, but I believe he said that Eastman (at that time, anyway) put their dye on top of leather that had already been finished or sealed in some way, rather than leather that had only been tanned, so the dye didn't penetrate as it did on originals. Eventually, my entire jacket was almost a beige color. Looked really bad. Four or five years ago I dyed it a dark russet color with a technique and dye recipe that I got from JC, and now the jacket finish looks very close to some originals in my collection.

One more thing about the hide: I remember talking to Charlie at HPA before I purchased the jacket. I don't recall details from that conversation, but I do know I was never under the impression that the hide was from wild mustang horses. I assumed that "mustang hide" was simply a marketing label like "war horse" or Aero's "jerky" hide--just a way to distinguish the thicker, grainier hide from the baby's butt smooth horse that Eastman typically used at the time, and also an obtuse connection to the P-51. I could be wrong about this but, as I said, that was my impression. I'd be curious to know the actual pedigree of the hide, so to speak. As for the "Daisygate" reference--supposedly if you did not specify that you wanted horsehide when you ordered an Eastman 1401 during this time period, the "default" hide was cow. I don't know if this is true or not. The ebay jacket in question is most certainly horsehide.

The patterns on these jackets are from Eastman's "roomier" period. If it's labeled a 44, it's a generous 44, basically a modern 44. One thing this jacket has going for it in terms of the pattern is that it is a 1401P contract. I never liked some of Eastman's early Monarch's etc.; they all looked like Rough Wears with different collars and pockets sewn on. But IMO Eastman has always done a fine RW A-2.

Now that I have the dye issue worked out on my jacket, it's the one repro A-2 that I will never sell. Amazing hide. Nobody else even came close until Good Wear came along. IMO it's worth the $650 ebay bid, maybe $700. But considering what I've seen some really nice GW's going for (which won't need to be re-dyed), $700 would be max.

___________________

stubbyeighth
 
FlyingYankee

FlyingYankee

Active Member
Thanks , I Don't think I will be bidding on this one as I prefer to break in a new GW myself. I do love the color except for the Collar. The P-51 connection does make sense. To bad the guy had to sell it after so many years of breaking her in.
 
wop54

wop54

Active Member
m444uk said:
"Purchased in 1999. This jacket was special made for me out of a special run of wild mustang horsehide and, as you can see in the pictures, the horsehide shows the open range wearing on the hide"

Er...A2 weight horsehide comes from Italy where horses are raised for meat. That jacket looks like calfskin to me, a leather Eastman where using in that era.
Click to expand...
Actually the horse breeding factories for meat in Italy are very very rare.... Most of the horses for meat come from abroad, expecially Poland. The habit to eat horse meat is satisfied slaughtering 84.000 horses per year (70.000 come from abroad).
 
airfrogusmc

airfrogusmc

Well-Known Member
One of the major debaters during daisygate was many bout jackets they assumed were horse that may or may not have been with many being cow. Some of the jackets had really spongy, characterless hides. Not a good period for Eastman.
 
ausreenactor

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
TOMG1401 said:
Eastman NEVER produced a mustang hide RW 1401, never
Click to expand...

From a 2007 FL post

"The story on the caramel mustang hide if you don’t already know goes something like this, Gary Eastman sourced a small lot of hides that were very grainy and had a lot of character to them and had them tanned and dyed in this reddish caramel color for another original maker jacket project he was working on that didn’t turn out, so he had to figure out what to use them for and got with Charles at HPA ( who is very knowledgeable in original A-2’s ) and determined that these would be very correct for some Rough Wear 1401-P’s, so they made about 12 or so jackets and HPA called them mustang hide kind of like Buzz Rickson’s saying bronco hide and Aero calling there’s jerky hide. Had nothing to do with mustang horse's rather than just a sales pitch!"

From the Acme Depot

"Lately, Eastman's latest horsehide stock, particularly the recent (year 2000) mustang hide, has much more grain in it. Eastman also states that their hides are now all made with a vegetable tanning process as was dominant with original A-2 jackets. Most leather garments today use other processes such as chrome tanning. One of the differences, at least by my assessment, between veg. and chrome tanning is that the surface of a veg. tanned hide is a bit more crisp or tight while the surface of a chrome tanned hide can have a bit more of a spongey feel. This may be mostly anecdotal, however, and not necessarily indicative of all comparisons as there is more to leather processing than just the tanning solution."

A link to one selling on eBay with a receipt, and another forum member relaying the details of his jacket as a post above? Or are you querying the hide itself? :?
 
ausreenactor

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
And the price has dropped again, to $394? Guess a snipe would get it at $650. Way to wreck an auction mate. Who tips a late snipe of $644 to push it just short of his last successful bid?

Couchy
 
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