Original Issued ANJ-3

[sealbeachbum]

This is a repost from the old forum......

I was cruising around the airfield at work today at LAX and decided to stop into our little museum we have on the south side of the airport. I haven’t been in there in a while. The first thing I noticed was a Flying Tiger’s A-2! I asked the volunteers if they knew who’s jacket it was. It turns out that it belonged to Bob Prescott. He was an AVG pilot and the man who started the Flying Tiger Lines Cargo airline. Then they told me that they have another WWII jacket that belonged to Bill Schoenfeld, a former Deputy Executive Director at our airport. As I walked up to it I thought it was an A-2, but on closer inspection I discovered it was an ANJ-3! Nobody in the museum had a clue what it was! How cool to stumble onto this at work!

 

[Chandler]

Bomber Pilot Jacket, hoo boy. Are they looking for a curator Bill? You ought to apply!

Chandler

 

[Anonymous]

That jacket is in need of some assistance - wipe the mold off the surface. Or are white specks from the flash?

 

[Anonymous]

those look like paint marks. . . .

 

[Stony]

Bomber Pilot Jacket, hoo boy. Are they looking for a curator Bill? You ought to apply!

You don't know how many museums mis-mark/identify items in their collections (including where I work). When I went to the Nimitz/Museum of the Pacific in Fredericksburg, they had a M-445 marked as an AAF jacket. I left a note with the curator, but I don't know if they changed it or not.

 

[siddhartha]

...and the age-old question-did you have a look at the label?

That is the thing-I've never seen a label on these jackets, and have a hard time believing they are AAC issued jackets without one

Chris

 

[sealbeachbum]

Bomber Pilot Jacket, hoo boy. Are they looking for a curator Bill? You ought to apply!

Chandler

I think the guy running the museum now is about to retire. I want his job! I have a lot of compitition though. It is run by the city of Los Angeles (my employer) so it is possable, but I won't hold my breath.

 

[sealbeachbum]

...and the age-old question-did you have a look at the label?

That is the thing-I've never seen a label on these jackets, and have a hard time believing they are AAC issued jackets without one

Chris

I didn't get a look at the lable. I think Jumper from the old forum (I don't think he's signed up on the new one yet) saw it. Some day when I get a chance I'll go see if I can get a look at it.

 

[Anonymous]

Bomber Pilot Jacket, hoo boy. Are they looking for a curator Bill? You ought to apply!

Chandler

I think the guy running the museum now is about to retire. I want his job! I have a lot of compitition though. It is run by the city of Los Angeles (my employer) so it is possable, but I won't hold my breath.

The city of LA aren't they morally and financially bankrupt? Maybe the terminator will shut it down.

 

[sealbeachbum]

Bomber Pilot Jacket, hoo boy. Are they looking for a curator Bill? You ought to apply!

Chandler

I think the guy running the museum now is about to retire. I want his job! I have a lot of competition though. It is run by the city of Los Angeles (my employer) so it is possible, but I won't hold my breath.

The city of LA aren't they morally and financially bankrupt? Maybe the terminator will shut it down.

Yes but we make a good profit here at the airport, and by federal law every dime we make has to go back into the airport. No matter how bad the mayor would love to get his hands on our money he can't. Ha!

 

[asiamiles]

Ah yes, that's the exact same style of jacket I tried on in a used clothing store a couple of weeks ago. Leather seemed quite fragile and they were asking more than $800 for it, so I didn't consider it even though it fitted very well...better than an A-2 I thought. Seem to recall the lining was dark red silk but no label. No patches or markings to suggest it was an issued jacket.

 

[tamoko]

This my mint original modern sz44/46
This perfect one ! I wear this jacket most time like new repro, absolutely no problem.

http://www.nets2dio.com//Jackets/ANJ3/ANJ3.pdf

 

[zoomer]

Beautiful! Tell us about the lining...and the label if any.

 

[tamoko]

One rare photo from ANJ-3

 

[asiamiles]

This my mint original modern sz44/46

Nice one; an eBay pick up? I guess with no labels or anything to ID these jackets, if they do turn up on ebay they'd likely get listed as a "vintage leather jacket" so easily lost in the hundreds of other similar ones out there.

 

[Peter Graham]

I have never, ever seen a label on one of these jackets. I would love to, but until then I'm pretty skeptical that they were ever an issued jacket. Tamoko, that is a beautiful jacket. It looks very much like my Foster Sportswear AN-J-3A. Has it got a label ?