What do you make of this German label?

[m444uk]

This jacket is one of the numerous claimed "Luftwaffe" ones. Laponia appears to be a Swedish word/make or is it a German term for a type of cowhide ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Luftwaffe-German- ... 0550179130

This jacket is similar and has the eagle stitch holes faked up by the usual suspect :shock: a shame as it's a quality piece.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0649252632

The thing that confuses me is I've seen a group of east german pilots wearing identical jackets from the mid to late 1950's.
Never WWII Luftwaffe.
It seems unlikely these were communist made, the quality is to high. It also seems unlikely east german's could afforded to buy them or indeed cross the border to get them. Yet logic suggests these jackets are postwar german made to a pattern for a department store or Police.

 

[Monsoon]

Not really any help, but Laponia seems to be the company who made it. No other labels, which is funny. I think Luftwaffe jackets had labels in them similiar to what you'd find in an A-2.

 

[unclegrumpy]

Laponia is the Lapland region mostly in Sweden, but stretching into a bit of Norway and Finland. I am not sure about the jacket in question, but I have had German lederhosen that have been marked as being made form Laponia leather....but they were thick suede....and probably reindeer hide.

Interestingly, besides "Laponia", the jacket's tag says Wien 23 Atzgersdorf around the edges. Atzgersdorf is a section of Vienna. That puts the jacket in the right neighborhood, but still does not answer the question about when it was made.

 

[m444uk]

Laponia is the Lapland region mostly in Sweden, but stretching into a bit of Norway and Finland. I am not sure about the jacket in question, but I have had German lederhosen that have been marked as being made form Laponia leather....but they were thick suede....and probably reindeer hide.

Interestingly, besides "Laponia", the jacket's tag says Wien 23 Atzgersdorf around the edges. Atzgersdorf is a section of Vienna. That puts the jacket in the right neighborhood, but still does not answer the question about when it was made.

Yes, I emailed the seller and the smaller writing is an address. He says "Atzgersdorf Vienna XXIII"
As the jacket is not made of buckskin, Laponia must either be a shop or leather goods manufacturers name.

I wonder if these jackets are Austrian border Police jackets. Quite a few turn up on ebay with the same
4 pocket arrangement. Similar semi padded waistband. There are detail differences in cuff and waistband arrangement
suggesting more than one company was making them or they were being made over an extended period of time.
Many have period interior relines suggesting much use. Or it may just of been a popular style of jacket.

Colvinex, the demon Luftwaffe needle man is a member of this very forum. This is what he had to say a while back:

"Dear Sir,

in the long run we had no contact to each other. Ebay is a free maketplace. If you have any issues that I am selling my original Luftwaffe flgiht jackets here at ebay, you should get firm about these old items.

I know the forum your in. And that they have no clue that is for sure.

I suggest you urgently NOT to disturb me longer or write things in the internet about me that you have no certain proof.

Please do not contact any of my customers of me otherwise this case will goto law.

yours faithfully

Ronald Erbe

- colvinex"

 

[unclegrumpy]

As the jacket is not made of buckskin, Laponia must either be a shop or leather goods manufacturers name.

I wonder if "Laponia" still refers to the leather, much like "horsehide" does in many vintage American made jacket labels. It would be interesting to find out if anybody knows much about the leather industry in Lapland, and what types of animals they used....besides reindeer. It seems odd to me that an Austrian Company would choose to associate there products to Lapland without a good reason. The Laplanders are tribal culture....known for their colorful traditional attire and nomadic reindeer herding across the ice and snow...not for slickly styled black leather jackets.

 

[m444uk]

I wonder if "Laponia" still refers to the leather, much like "horsehide" does in many vintage American made jacket labels.

I asked the seller who is Austrian and he came up with this:

"Laponia leather (washable repellent nubuk cow)
A ground beef on the flat side suede. :shock:
It is therefore very good and easy to clean
best Regards Harry"

So, yes it could just be a generic word for a durable leather although it is in fact a rough out type.

 

[unclegrumpy]

I don't think the sellers response makes much sense. I goggled Laponia Leather, and indeed the Germans still make lederhosen out of it....like the pair I had. The photos of it are all in suede, which would be the same as "rough out", which this jacket is neither. It is however, heavy duty looking leather.

The jacket is not "nubuk" either, as that is a roughing up treatment done on the smooth side of the leather to give it a short suede like appearance. You see a lot of shoes made in nubuk, because the resulting product has a more uniform look than suede often has.

What would be interesting to know is if it was common practice to make things using Laponia Leather with the smooth side out. It would make sense to make leather jackets out of it, since it has a nice weight to it.

This still does not solve the most important part of the mystery, which is when the jacket was made. The Germans occupied Norway, were fighting more or less with the Finns, and were trading with the Swedes, so one would think they would be getting goods from the Lapland region. The Laps would not have had much of a wartime market besides the Germans, so maybe it makes sense that an Austrian Company was using their leather.

Somebody probably knows the answer!

 

[m444uk]

Somebody probably knows the answer!

We need more German members here !