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At least 30 years--I had the same folder with the leather samples back in 1989 when I purchased a B-3 and what I think was the first Eastman Horsehide A-2 in the US.
Fly Past was where it all started for me in the late 90s, saw the ad for ELC and logged on via dial up modem from Mum and Dad's (I didn't want this new internet fad). Then the Golden Book and started the contract hunt on eBay. AUD to USD of $0.48 didn't help much.
for me it started before the internet...I wrote a letter to their address from the ad and requested a catalogue which I received about a month later then I bought a B-2 cap as a test buy for my planned B-3 jacket to see how ordering from the UK would work and if the quality would be worth my money. I still have both the cap and the B-3.
But when I look at the price list from that first catalogue I don't know if I should laugh or cry. Granted, the GBP was much stronger in relation to the then national currency in Austria, the Schilling, but still..
Oh, I also have a catalogue from RMNZ from like 20 years ago...another nice trip down memory lane
...and inspired by a visit at my parents home, where I store some of my old books and magazines collections, I dug out the issue of FlyPast magazine where I first came across an ELC ad.... April 1994
Oh yes they ring back memories, the catalogue with samples and the old Flypast adverts.
The younger members won't remember but back in the '60's & '70's THE place to scour in the UK was the militaria columns of Exchange & Mart. If you wanted a genuine ex military wartime Jeep they could be had for very little too with places like Metamet in London stocking a huge range of NOS bits. The ex military sales at Ruddington were brilliant, it's all a bit sterile - and pricey - these days.
Yes, I can post the prices let's say it's eye watering to see the increases... Might as well be that the next price jump will put off even the most ardent admirers of their work...if that's the way to go, with Brexit looming, only time will tell...
I love Eastman jackets and have done since I first saw one of their Irvins. Whilst I love them they've priced themselves beyond what they are worth now IMHO.
I absolutely love my ELC 1940 Pattern Irvin which I bought new from them in 2007 and I wouldn't part with it for all the tea in China but strangely if I lost it or something happened to it, I actually couldn't bring myself to pay what they are asking now for one. There's something that has happened with what they're charging now in my head in terms of what you pay in regards to what you get. For me what you have to fork out doesn't fit with what you get anymore. The endless price hikes scream of shafting the punter to me and I've never liked that from a company. I know lots of chaps feel differently but for me, it just feels like they've gotten greedy.