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Gary Eastman's A2 Book is out
- Thread starter 269sqnhudson
- Start date
stanier
Well-Known Member
Roughwear said:oose said:Hi all,
Well I shall be going as its down the road and an excuse to get out and have a few drinks with some mates. It would be nice to meet some VLJ members. I'll be the one in the A-2!
The A-2 is one jacket I don't yet own, I think I'll be wearing some nice warm nylon, bearing in mind the weather we have at the moment! I've heard some good talk about it but saying that the last few must have jacket books have been a disappointment.
Hope to see you there.
stu
I'm planning on getting there at around 5pm. They may be many guys in A2s Stu so how will people recognise you?
At the current weather it will be me D-1 than a-2!
Looking forward to the launch!
Cheers all
NW Carver
Active Member
Damn - that's not far from where I work but I will be at my ballroom/latin dance classes at that time (I do dance competitions), so am going to struggle to get anywhere near it!
Would have been good to meet up with everyone
Maybe we should organize a forum meet up at some point...
Would have been good to meet up with everyone
Maybe we should organize a forum meet up at some point...
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
C'mon guys, someone has to have thumbed through one? Get out of the event and post already...yeesh!!
Couchy
Couchy
I met Robin at American Classics and we spent over an hour chatting to Gary about his book and other things. We both bought the book, which Gary researched, wrote and took the photos and had privately published. The book is excellent value. It represents the culmination of thirty years collecting A2s during which he has spent a small fortune on originals. He has been to the States quite a few times to undertake archival research.
The book is really the A2 "bible" for the serious collector. There is significant new information in it. For example the heavy use of steer hide by several contractors (proven by recent DNA analysis), the size and dates of contracts and information on the makers of A1 jackets as well as all the A2 contractors. The book is illustrated with photos of jackets in Gary's collection and he has at least one example of every contract! First impressions are it is an excellent book and will be an invaluable reference source on A2s for years to come.
Here is a Gary signing a copy earlier this evening.
The book is really the A2 "bible" for the serious collector. There is significant new information in it. For example the heavy use of steer hide by several contractors (proven by recent DNA analysis), the size and dates of contracts and information on the makers of A1 jackets as well as all the A2 contractors. The book is illustrated with photos of jackets in Gary's collection and he has at least one example of every contract! First impressions are it is an excellent book and will be an invaluable reference source on A2s for years to come.
Here is a Gary signing a copy earlier this evening.
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Andrew,
Thanks for the update. I will be buying a copy of the book and it will be here when I get back from the drive south.
It looked very well laid out from the pics. How many pages?
Is that a GW A-2 Gary is wearing?
Couchy
Thanks for the update. I will be buying a copy of the book and it will be here when I get back from the drive south.
It looked very well laid out from the pics. How many pages?
Is that a GW A-2 Gary is wearing?
Couchy
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Roughwear said:
Hefty!!
How could anyone NOT buy it.. Anyone who doesn't get their hands on a copy isn't serious about their A-2s!!
Couchy
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
yeah, ive got one on order. funny, the steer hide thing. many years ago i advocated that steer must have been used to make a-2s, particularly by aero. boy, was i poo pooed, except by chappy, who concured that steer must have been used. he had some wwll documentation that indicated the use or possible use of steer. makes sense considering that horses were used in the war effort as well as for jacs, and domestic goat, supplemented with imported goat from india was in high demand. im supprised that otter wasnt procured as well.
ausreenactor
Well-Known Member
Silver Surfer said:
I had heard of US soldiers chasing 'beaver'? Was that to keep them warm at night?
Couchy
buzzthetower
Administrator
This book sounds like a superb resource, and I definitely applaud the production of it.
I took apart a very tattered Monarch A-2, which, as usual compared with many other Monarchs, was made with thin and soft leather. I don't know if this is one of the contracts in which cowhide was used, but the jacket I took apart had a very large M with a line underneath it in the back panel. It looked like typical cow branding.
The difference between horsehide and cowhide can be tricky to differentiate, if a tanner is consistent in how they process the hides. The natural grain patterns and hide shape will be easy to differentiate before the hides are cut into pieces, but afterward, it becomes a bit more difficult to know for sure.
One interesting detail I can say is consistent is that working with horsehide is a bit easier than cowhide. I've found that most of the cowhide I've used was a bit difficult to fold and then keep folded (before application in a sewing machine), whereas horsehide and goatskin, once folded, will remain in that shape. Also, cowhide tends to have a much more fuzzy texture to the suede side of the leather, and horsehide/goatskin, once cut to the right thickness, tends to be very smooth on the suede side. Otherwise, the finished surface looks quite a bit like horsehide.
Charles DiSipio found some contract documents that make direct mention of cowhide for aviator jackets - what, other than A-2s, would an aviator jacket be made with cowhide? Though a B-3 or even B-15A would have horsehide parts, one certainly wouldn't refer to them as a cowhide-made contract for 20,000 aviator jackets.
He also found cowhide tannery contract bids for aviator jackets, all from the 1941-1942 period, if I remember correctly.
No surprise that cowhide was used.
John
I took apart a very tattered Monarch A-2, which, as usual compared with many other Monarchs, was made with thin and soft leather. I don't know if this is one of the contracts in which cowhide was used, but the jacket I took apart had a very large M with a line underneath it in the back panel. It looked like typical cow branding.
The difference between horsehide and cowhide can be tricky to differentiate, if a tanner is consistent in how they process the hides. The natural grain patterns and hide shape will be easy to differentiate before the hides are cut into pieces, but afterward, it becomes a bit more difficult to know for sure.
One interesting detail I can say is consistent is that working with horsehide is a bit easier than cowhide. I've found that most of the cowhide I've used was a bit difficult to fold and then keep folded (before application in a sewing machine), whereas horsehide and goatskin, once folded, will remain in that shape. Also, cowhide tends to have a much more fuzzy texture to the suede side of the leather, and horsehide/goatskin, once cut to the right thickness, tends to be very smooth on the suede side. Otherwise, the finished surface looks quite a bit like horsehide.
Charles DiSipio found some contract documents that make direct mention of cowhide for aviator jackets - what, other than A-2s, would an aviator jacket be made with cowhide? Though a B-3 or even B-15A would have horsehide parts, one certainly wouldn't refer to them as a cowhide-made contract for 20,000 aviator jackets.
He also found cowhide tannery contract bids for aviator jackets, all from the 1941-1942 period, if I remember correctly.
No surprise that cowhide was used.
John
TankBuster
Active Member
Kudos to Gary for such a great book! I have to laugh about the Steerhide finding after all the naysayers here over the years!
CBI
Well-Known Member
I always thought it as pretty well-known that cowhide was used as it was "officially" listed as an option by the AAC/AAF for jackets. I have seen this in a few places but its been quite sometime.
Sounds like Gary's book is a winner. I see its on the ELC site but it doesn't look like one can order it yet. I will check again in a few days.
Sounds like Gary's book is a winner. I see its on the ELC site but it doesn't look like one can order it yet. I will check again in a few days.
MikeyB-17
Well-Known Member
I'm not surprised either, in fact I'd've been more surprised if steerhide wasn't used, but this is the first time AFAIK anyone has actually come out with published proof categorically stating that it was used. I was aware of various people saying they had documentary evidence that steerhide was used (Charles DiSipio was known to have had some sort of evidence years ago, supposedly keeping it for use in a book) but, again AFAIK, it's never been actually put out in the public domain before-when I think of the arguments that raged over this subject years ago on previous forums!
Air Corps specifications 12028 ( 17 July 1940) and 12028-A (7th November 1940) are for the use of cow hide in the production of A2s. So the official date for the standardisation for Cowhide was 17th July 1940, although Werber had used it on the their 1939 contract A2. As Gary says "Potentially, any A-2 contract from then on( 17th July 1940) could have been made from this hide type-incredibly this encompasses 93% of all A-2 production."
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