Admiral Byrd little America jacket.

[SeanRobinson]

Hi I've owned this jacket about 5 years now and wear it regularly, I've been told it's 1940s so it's pushing on 80 years old.. I'll be re-nourishing the leather so I can get a few more years out of it.
My questions are, how rare is it should I stop wearing it.?
(Which I'm rather loathe to do)
Does it have any value ?
(I paid a little over £100 for it when I bought it)
And would I be able to date it to a specific year.
Thanks in advance
Sean

 

[Marc mndt]

My questions are, how rare is it

Is a rare jacket in horsehide, let alone in capeskin like yours. Capeskin is a delicate / fragile material, it disintegrates sooner or later.

I believe the black one below is owned by @tmitchell59

Does it have any value ?

Depends on size and condition. Between $300 -$800 I'd say, rough estimate

 

[AHP91]

Is a rare jacket in horsehide, let alone in capeskin like yours. Capeskin is a delicate / fragile material, it disintegrates sooner or later.

I believe the black one below is owned by @tmitchell59

View attachment 566985 View attachment 566986 View attachment 566987 View attachment 566988 View attachment 566989 View attachment 566990 View attachment 566991


Depends on size and condition. Between $300 -$800 I'd say, rough estimate

Also pretty heavily dependent on condition. Tough to tell but yours looks like it has some pretty rough wear on it. If it looks like it’s falling apart, it is

 

[SeanRobinson]

Is a rare jacket in horsehide, let alone in capeskin like yours. Capeskin is a delicate / fragile material, it disintegrates sooner or later.

I believe the black one below is owned by @tmitchell59

View attachment 566985 View attachment 566986 View attachment 566987 View attachment 566988 View attachment 566989 View attachment 566990 View attachment 566991


Depends on size and condition. Between $300 -$800 I'd say, rough estimate

I'm a 42" chest 5'8" and it fits me perfectly.. condition I'd say is pretty good it needs nourishing but no rips tears or buttons/zips missing. Only thing I can see wrong is the hanging strap I the neck is torn and been stitched but as it lives on a hanger when not worn it's not an issue.

 

[SeanRobinson]

Also pretty heavily dependent on condition. Tough to tell but yours looks like it has some pretty rough wear on it. If it looks like it’s falling apart, it is

View attachment 566992

It's pretty desperate for a feed of some sort to nourish the leather. But it's not coming apart or fragile yet.

 

[tmitchell59]

Cape is very delicate. I doubt any conditioner is going to make a difference. This is in better shape than many cape jackets. This jacket is from c.1939. If you look at the bottom edge of the zipper stop there is a number code which equals month and year.

This was a very popular jacket and available in black and brown, cape and pony.

These were made by Roughwear and sold with the Windward label

This is one of my favorite jackets. My black is horsehide and too small for me. I have seen only a few of these.

 

[TREEMAN]

Sweet jacket...

 

[SeanRobinson]

Cape is very delicate. I doubt any conditioner is going to make a difference. This is in better shape than many cape jackets. This jacket is from c.1939. If you look at the bottom edge of the zipper stop there is a number code which equals month and year.

This was a very popular jacket and available in black and brown, cape and pony.

These were made by Roughwear and sold with the Windward label

This is one of my favorite jackets. My black is horsehide and too small for me. I have seen only a few of these.

Mine is large size, I am a 42" chest and it's not tight on me. It's very supple but it doesn't feel at all fragile. (Yet)

 

[SeanRobinson]

Mine is large size, I am a 42" chest and it's not tight on me. It's very supple but it doesn't feel at all fragile. (Yet)

I'll have a look at the zipper thank you for that information

 

[SeanRobinson]

Mine is large size, I am a 42" chest and it's not tight on me. It's very supple but it doesn't feel at all fragile. (Yet)

Mine is large size, I am a 42" chest and it's not tight on me. It's very supple but it doesn't feel at all fragile. (Yet)

I've had a look and all I can see is possibly 0 7 just two numbers

 

[SeanRobinson]

Mine is large size, I am a 42" chest and it's not tight on me. It's very supple but it doesn't feel at all fragile. (Yet)

 

[tmitchell59]

Here is the stamping on mine

You jacket is from the same time, pre-war.

1941 Montgomery Ward catalog

 

[Canuck Panda]

The Byrd aviator is a rare one. All prewar aviators are rare, and pricey, even in flakey conditions.