1940s Goatskin Motorcycle Jacket - Canadian

[himelator]

your jacket knocked me off my feet

http://vintageleatherjackets.blogspot.com/

ok a couple of things: I collect and write and replicate old leather jackets. Your jacket is one of the best I've ever seen from Canada. I own almost a 1000 jackets, and yours is absolutely one of the best. I would really really appreciate detailed pictures (like in Rins books) with permission to publish them because Im collecting and writing a book relating to the history of jacket production.

Secondly..100% Canadian jacket, without a doubt. Lightning is in fact a Canadian company founded right here in St. Catherines Ontario. In fact, the first owner invented the modern zipper for Hookless way back in 1925. He was a Swede immigrant to Canada..Lightning zipper in Britain is a different company founded much later...shocking for the Brits im sure, but in fact the british zippers were offshoots of a metal fabrication industry formed much later in England.

As for that jacket, what makes it so unusual is the cafe collar, which is typical of an early riders jacket rather than a sportsman's model. It has the classic shell back which was preeminent in Canadian made jackets which combined the frilly design of classic European styling and the sleek ruggedness of American influences..

You guys at the lounge blow me away with your enthusiasm, btw I openly seek pictures and actual vintage pics of friends and family from the past for my liners for my vintage jackets as well if anybody wants to contribute.

Best
Himel

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The jacket is very flattered. I will say - H Johnson can back me up - there was an even better Canadian one in a store in London for the longest time. It fit me about as good as this one. The only difference was it had that lovely deco Lightning zipper - very much like the A-2 talon puller. I used to go back there every couple of days to try it on and again and again. But it was over £200, and i wasn't willing to pay that much. Young Herbert actually said at the time: "That's just the kind of jacket that makes it's way into Tanaka's books. A world class jacket."

Sure thing for the photos. Of course i retain all copyright and ownership of said photos. Maybe PM me and let me know the kind of thing you're looking for. I've never actually looked inside one of the Tanaka books!

bk

 

[H.Johnson]

http://vintageleatherjackets.blogspot.com/

Secondly..100% Canadian jacket, without a doubt. Lightning is in fact a Canadian company founded right here in St. Catherines Ontario. In fact, the first owner invented the modern zipper for Hookless way back in 1925. He was a Swede immigrant to Canada..Lightning zipper in Britain is a different company founded much later...shocking for the Brits im sure, but in fact the british zippers were offshoots of a metal fabrication industry formed much later in England.


Best
Himel

Is anyone arguing with this? Nothing shocking at all. See other threads here on the relation between Talon, Canadian Lightning and ICI Lightning. But, how much later is 'much later'? The photograph in my avatar shows the Lightning factory at Witton in full production in 1927. The original Lightning design and manufacturing operations were set up with consultancy from the the Swedish gentleman you mention. ICI were looking for a product to replace their WW1 armaments production and found it in the new zip fastener in Canada. This is well documented. I'm sure you have a copy of 'Lightning Inc: A Romance of Achievement' that describes the early days of Talon and Canadian Lightning?

 

[himelator]

Is anyone arguing with this? Nothing shocking at all. See other threads here on the relation between Talon, Canadian Lightning and ICI Lightning. But, how much later is 'much later'? The photograph in my avatar shows the Lightning factory at Witton in full production in 1927. The original Lightning design and manufacturing operations were set up with consultancy from the the Swedish gentleman you mention. ICI were looking for a product to replace their WW1 armaments production and found it in the new zip fastener in Canada. This is well documented. I'm sure you have a copy of 'Lightning Inc: A Romance of Achievement' that describes the early days of Talon and Canadian Lightning?

lol Sorry I dont have a lot of time to peruse the site..I wish I had a copy of the book, I only have the library privileges, and online databases...all of lightnings patents and court cases are public and much of the paperwork is available at Brock University in St. Catherines. I sent a fedora email to Kurtz..if you read this could you get back to me. I also read several bits and pieces about Witton..and it seems the zipper operation was much after 1927 I think I will double check my notes about dates and try and write something on my blog...a lot of early production is a bit of a mystery because the papers of these companies are long gone..your lightning is long gone owned by Opti now. Now I read your post, super duper informative, all I had to go on was boxes of original zippers, catalogues, online court cases and patents. It is clear that someone has researched very detailed histories on this stuff. I now have digital copies of two of the books so I have to thank you! :O) Ive been looking for 5 years for these sources and they had not been "available" via the web. Also, someone posted a pic of a very very early zipper on the lounge..That was incredible it is one of the earliest I've ever seen and you can trust me Ive seen a lot.

Thanks!!!

http://vintageleatherjackets.blogspot.com/

p.s. its always nice to learn something, but its always tough when I realize I was ignorant in the process :O)

 

[BellyTank]

Swedish and Zippers-

Swedish...

A member, here at the Lounge, posted a picture (of a garment)a while back, which included a zipper, marked "GUSUM". Now, seeing that word rang a bell with me, as Gusum is a town, here in Sweden. In the last week, I've seen a couple of GUSUM marked zippers, here in Sweden- both were on old Mens' travelling grooming kits- they were old but how old, I'm not too sure.
Today, as I drove for 6 hours from south east Sweden, back to Stockholm, I drove past the town of Gusum and was reminded to find out more.
These zippers did have a resemblance to older Lighting zippers but that could be nothing.

Bla, bla.

Does anyone know anything about "GUSUM" zippers..? kick-start my research?
Did the Swedish zipper developer guy manufacture in Sweden?


B
T

 

[H.Johnson]

BT

Otto Frederick Gideon Sundback was born in Odestugu, Jonkoping in Aril 1880.
In the late 1890s he went to study in Bingen, Germany, graduating in 1903. He did his national service in Sweden, then immediately emigrated to the USA in 1905 to work for Westinghouse. He began working for the company that became Talon in 1907 and took out his first fastener patent (No. 1060378) in 1913. Although his influence as the effective inventor of the modern zip fastener spread throughout the world, the 'Talon bible'* doesn't mention that he ever visited Sweden again, or that he ever had any manufacturing links with Sweden. GUSUM is, of course, a town in Sweden. Sundback was awarded the Gold Medal of the Sedish Royal Academy of Engineering Science in 1951. He died of a heart condition in 1954. A true genius.

* The full citation is; Brown S.H. [Ed.] (1963) 'Talon Inc. a romance of achievement; an abridgement of the original manuscript by James Gray to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the company'. Talon, Inc. Meadville, P.A.

The material about Kynoch's (as financial backers) and Sundback's (as inventor) interest in Lightning Fasteners is on Page 52 (mentioning the establishment of factories in France and Canada). Full details of Kynoch Ltd buying Sundback's non-USA rights are in the section 'Lightning' on pages 75 - 79. The first Lightning factory was set up in Brownsburg in September 1924. The move to St. Catherines Ontario, came in 1925. Manufacture in Birmingham, began in 1926. My avatar shows the Witton factory in 1927.

Information on the early days of Kynoch Ltd., Lightning in the UK and Canada

 

[BellyTank]

...and Gusum is close to Jönköping.


B
T

 

[H.Johnson]

Yes, which raises a tantalising possibility...but as yet no direct evidence of a connection with Sundback.

 

[BellyTank]

I have just done some Swedish web browsing, grazing, perhaps.

The Swedish "Blixtlås"(there's the use of Lightning again),Gideon Sundbäck(as well as Peter A. Aronsson) and zipper production beginning in the town of Gusum, in 1931,are all mentioned on the same page, on many pages but there never a link between Sundbäck and production in Gusum. No hint of Sundbäck being the Gusum zipper factory man.

The town of Gusum's claim to fame is, apparently, zip production and brass work.


B
T

 

[H.Johnson]

Ahah! P.A. Aronsson and Sundback have close links - PAA worked for Manville Brothers in Connecticut, who made zip manufacturing machinery for Universal (the firm that became Hookless) in the early days. He joined to company to help W.L. Judson* develop the C-Curity fastener - the first practical slide fastener offered to the public in 1905. Sundback married his daughter Elvira (no, not that Elvira)

He left Universal (too soon?) as an employee in 1908 but continued as a shareholder (stay with this...) until in 1910 he went to Paris 'to sell Sundback's French rights to the fastener patents. With French backing Aronsson succeeded in putting up a factory...' (Talon Inc. etc page 30). So, zip manufacture - 'le Ferme Tout Americain'- in Paris, in line with the timescale for the Hermes posting on another thread.

A Swedish link - another employee at Hookless was called Gunnar Falk, who Sundback had known in his youth was originally from near to Gusum. Sundback sponsored his immigration to the US and gave him his first job. It is tempting to think that Falk returned home to set up a zip factory in his middle years, but records show that he worked for Talon until 1961. However, there could be others yet to emerge..

Watson...the game is afoot!

* Judson's son founded Continental Motors.