Jackets at Popham Aeromart

[havocpaul]

Took advantage of helping my friend on his stall at the Bank Holiday Monday aeromart/autojumble at Popham Airfield in Hampshire. yet again the media got the weather forecast totally wrong...it was a very strong wind and frequent light showers which seemed to keep the numbers down and ended the show earlier. Had a chance to walk round the stalls which were a mix of aviation and motoring. Not too much to excite the flight jacket guy, a few original Irvins in good condition, prices below recent eBay auctions, didn't see any A-2's, several Irvin and USAAF shearling pants and in the tent Oldnautibits had an Irvin original, one repro and a nice Luftwaffe shearling jacket. Maybe because of the weather some dealers were prepared to negotiate well on prices too. My only purchase was a 120Sqn RAF Mk3 flying jacket for £20 which was needed to keep the wind at bay! Talking to several dealers who do the rounds of militaria shows, in particular War and Peace in July, it seems they are finding things tough in the current economic crisis (crisis, what crisis?!) and need to sell well to keep going. It may be a good year for buyers as prices might be attractive compared with recent years. It is also a reminder that there are dealers and sellers who do not use eBay and so jackets can appear 'in the flesh' if one ventures out to the shows.

 

[John Lever]

Paul, were they all vintage jackets and how much were the Irvins ?

 

[havocpaul]

The original Irvins ranged from £300 to £600 depending on size/condition. There were some good original leathers and I wish I had longer to view in more detail, was busy trying to keep the stall from blowing away. there was a jacket very similar to your Swedish 'tanker' but the dealer's wife didn't know what price it was and her husband had gone walkabout! Plenty of bike jackets but none that seemed good vintage, I had hoped to find a vintage Lewis jacket but none stood out. there are apparently a number of these kind of shows (Beaulieu, kempton etc) so there might be bargains out there.