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Goodwear 1933 Werber

zhz44

Active Member
I agree Vic. the few original 33 Werbers I have seen had a relatively smooth hide and Eastman replicate it very well. The knits are correct on the 33 Werber as John replicated the original size 36 use to pattern from.

Thank you for confirming this, Andrew. This is the first time I know the knit has the different width.
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
as written earlier, "for the most part, MOST early, and pre war a-2s were made with smoother hh". yes, of course there are examples of pre war, and early war a-2s with grainy hides, however, they are the exception. i had a 1940 aero that was pretty grainy, as well as an original 1941 1401 rw that was quite grainy. to my eyes, some contractors took pride in the jackets they produced, and sourced the highest quality materials they could find, while other contractors simply cranked out as many a-2s as they could, and paid little attention to quality hides above what was required to pass inspection. as exampled by monarch or rough wear vs spiewak or aero.
 

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
Thanks Vic. I used to own two 1940 Aeros made from smooth hh. My first contract RW is made from largely smooth hh. Most of the Pre-War jackets in Gary Eastman's book appear to be made from smooth leather.
 

tibor

Well-Known Member
I recently picked up this Werber 1933 contract from John and its become my all time favorite. Between the leather, fit, hardware, and vintage look, I'm just so impressed. When Chennault was part of Three Men on a Flying Trapeze he wore a 1933 Werber. It's a great period in aviation, and I enjoy having a representative bit of it. My thanks to John again for his remarkable work.


1930s_A2_Jacket.jpg
 
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johnwayne

Well-Known Member
Re grain, although I need to look through them again I've got some 6 or so ref books that I'm sure many of you guys have too but I don't recall see hardly any A2's with such a distinct grain. I'd go as far as reckoning that poss as much as 90% of pics show quite smooth skinned jackets that you might associate with both steer/cow and horse hides that surely due to size of the animal alone makes for more suitable skin that say goat as used on USN jackets. God knows how many hours I've spent scanning my books over the years but I'm now going to check again what I've said!! Don't get me wrong I like the grainy jackets as borne by my GW Doniger and SFA (Norshor) A1.
Cheers
Wayne
 

blackrat2

Well-Known Member
Well grain or no grain what a fantastic jacket you have
I think the length is spot on,would rather have that than be to short and just have to wear it unzipped all the time!
It's been mentioned before,fit was all over the place and I guess a personal thing these days
Enjoy
 

zhz44

Active Member
For this grain thing, I would like to refer to JC's photo (hopefully this is OK with you JC). To me, I think this 33 Werber worn by Chennault appears to have lots grain on the left panel, am I right?

Comparison_01.jpg
 

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
Your Werber looks amazing man, if I were to have a choice between grain or smooth it'd be grain anyday. Bags of character and sets it apart from cheaper copies. Your reference shot above says it all.

Out of interest I googled 'WW2 A-2 jacket' and the results of 30 or so images are about 50/50 on original shots.

Wear it to hell and be chuffed to bits that you own a GW ;-)
 

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
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CBI

Well-Known Member
All of the Werbers on this thread look great!!! Love the Air Corps Tactical School patch on Chennault. By today's retail standards his jacket looks WAAAAAY too small on him. HAAAAAAA!!!!!
 

johnwayne

Well-Known Member
Good to see the comparison pics and I note CC's collar does seem large so much so it's has a roll to it similar to how vintage button down shirts look, poss as a result of wear/ageing. It's me or is CC's left pocket further from the front that the right one?
Interesting too is how JC's shoulder seams sit what appears to be a good inch lower down the arm although the actual sleeves look pretty much identical! Ironically, my GW Doniger shoulder seams sit higher and is something personally I like.
CC looks quite a small guy, was he?
Cheers
Wayne
 
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