I Acquired The 23379 Dubow A-2 Jacket

[WW2 Buff]

Hello, here are some pics of the 23379 Dubow I acquired in February 2024. I like it. According to the information from this forum, it was manufactured around December 1941. This one is made of horse hide, and it has a stand up collar and the label is slightly different than the typical Dubow label. The cuffs are tattered, but I choose to leave them that way. I emailed Jan and asked for his opinions on the jacket prior to my purchase. Thanks Jan! The name tag reads K.L. Farner. The seller told me this person was a pilot who flew in the Pacific Theatre during WW2, and had won the Air medal three times and the distinguished flying cross twice, but he never sent me any paper work about it as I had requested. I found an obituary for a Kenneth Farner that reported the same information, but I'm not sure if K.L. Farner

is the same person?

 

[B-Man2]

Great looking original A2 .
It will be one of the one of the highlites of your collection. Nice find !
It will continue to go up in value over the years .

 

[WW2 Buff]

Thanks B-man2! You are right, It is my favorite A-2. You (and other members) have some super excellent jackets in your collections, that I admire too. And you (and other members) are welcome to use any of my photos for any of your posts if you would like.

 

[B-Man2]

Thanks B-man2! You are right, It is my favorite A-2. You (and other members) have some super excellent jackets in your collections, that I admire too. And you (and other members) are welcome to use any of my photos for any of your posts if you would like.

Thank you WW!
And thank you for posting your original A2 and helping to keep the Vintage in VLJ .

 

[mulceber]

Congrats, WW!

I have a question: according to Easyman’s A-2 guide, the 23279 was made of HH. No mention of goatskin. Now, Gary probably hadn’t seen more than a few examples of the contract, so the book could be wrong, but are you sure it’s goat? It looks like it could be HH to me. Horse can occasionally have a bit of that pebbly quality we associate with goat (modern Italian HH is especially prone to it).

Whatever the case, it’s an awesome jacket.

 

[Tattoo A2]

Nice find, and the leather appears to be in great shape. All I can say is welcome to your new addiction. Another wonderful piece of history.

 

[WW2 Buff]

Thanks Tattoo A-2.

Jan, sorry, I don't have the expertise because I don't have the experience that others have to be able to tell if it's goat or horse. It looks like goat to me because of the pebbly quality, however it could be horse.

I will ask other members: What is your opinion? Is this A-2 goat or horse?

 

[mulceber]

Nothing to be sorry about. It makes for an interesting question for discussion!

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

It look like HH from current pics.

 

[B-Man2]

Thanks Tattoo A-2.

Jan, sorry, I don't have the expertise because I don't have the experience that others have to be able to tell if it's goat or horse. It looks like goat to me because of the pebbly quality, however it could be horse.

I will ask other members: What is your opinion? Is this A-2 goat or horse?

My first thoughts when I saw your photos was that it was horsehide. I checked the Eastman book as well and Jans correct about it not mentioning goatskin for that contract . Some good quality close ups would be helpful in trying to determine exactly what you have .

 

[bseal]

As to the hide of Farner’s A-2, the left sleeve is whinnying, “neigh,” to your query.

 

[Nickb123]

I’d say horse.

 

[Lorenzo_l]

That's one beautiful original you've got there @WW2 Buff. The leather looks to be in amazing condition for its age. And I'd say its horsehide from the pictures.

 

[blackrat2]

Very nice jacket, does it fit you or just for display purposes
As for hide, gonna say probably fall in the hh camp also

 

[Brettafett]

Gorgeous, and in my size! By all accounts, hh.
If you ever want to move it on....

 

[Silver Surfer]

hh. no doubt about it. ya dun gud, and my size too.

 

[Micawber]

Nice HH example - enjoy it.

 

[warguy]

Nice jacket, congratulations. I think the un-painted, un-patched originals are under valued/under appreciated. In truth, so many of these un-adorned jackets appear in original crew photos, there is no doubt if you want a original collectible jacket on display to represent our flyers, one of these nice conditioned, plain Jane’s is the way to go. When shopping originals, I always try to look for a jacket with great leather, original lining, label in place, original knits and named or identified if possible. Yours checks all those boxes. And I agree with the others, that is horsehide for sure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[WW2 Buff]

Thank you gentlemen for all of your responses. So, my Dubow is horse hide, excellent! I have edited my post and so have thereby corrected my description from goat to horse hide.

Warguy, every point you made in your comment above is what I believe and aspire to. I view and digitally collect original ww2 photos. Sometimes I listen to Glen Miller or period broadcasts and I get my GI jive on. I noticed from the photos, that most of the A-2s and B-3s and B-10s and 15s are plain. (But I like the squadron patches too, they're more interesting).

Blackrat2, the jacket doesn't fit me. I will just display it. I'm about a size 46R.

 

[Dany McDonald]

Super nice original and no ghost holes from stripped name tag and rank badges, woah!

Are you planning a knit job?