Admiral's A-1 Jacket

[Deleted member 16736]

For sale on artfact.com. Note the snap at the collar instead of a fastening button.

http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/rear-admiral-ballentine-naval-flight-jacket-and-a-22-u-c0dbdcc70a

 

[Fletch]

Yikes! This may be the only surviving capeskin example of Spec 37J1!

 

[Treetopflyer]

That is an AWESOME jacket.

 

[Dr H]

Very interesting, the cape is in surprisingly good condition given the age and usual fragility (I guess aided by the more limited flying undertaken by a Rear Admiral?).

Given the possible value of these rare survivors, the possibility of a producing a fake is obvious, but it has the right colour for faded/aged cape jackets of the period and the thickness/drape of the cape (see a flying jacket of a similar vintage)

The buttons have the dished profile that are often seen in other photos of the jackets in period.

To underline the way the spec varied all over the map, the named/painted 37J1 has a snapped collar (and waistband) and five buttons, rather than the more common six for this contract.

 

[John Lever]

Does the collar look civilian when compared to period photos ?
Ian, planning to bid ? It's cheaper than some Repo's by the estimate

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Awesome. tbh I don't know how you would tell the difference between a civilian/private purchase version and a military/issued version, without a label …

 

[Dr H]

Does the collar look civilian when compared to period photos ?
Ian, planning to bid ? It's cheaper than some Repo's by the estimate

John, I've never seen the inner edge of the collar showing the reinforcement of the snap before. It's difficult to see the profile of the collar in these shots (slightly foreshortened), but it has the look of a 'Letterman' type collar. The period shots show more typical A-1 type knitted collars (with one button, two buttons in line or two buttons with the lower staggered away from the edge of the fastening) and the varsity/Letterman type as well.

The removal/lack of the label is frustrating, although common enough with owners of government issue jackets after conflict I guess (if the A-2 market is anything to go by). The jacket that I illustrated is an 'Air Associates' model from Chicago (the waistband has buttons, but the collar knit is a replacement), but I don't know who made the 37J1 at that time - perhaps John Chapman can expand on this.

As far as bidding goes, I'd love to (might still have a punt), but it's likely to make a fair penny, whether entirely sound/correct or not. Remember, although admittedly it hasn't sold, that Air Associates model is being offered as a civvy jacket at £12k...

Many years of collecting/dabbling in dec arts antiques have left me with the impression that the estimate is just to entice the unwary/uncommitted bidder (or cover the back of the auction house employee who might be a general appraiser rather than a specialist), rather than a serious guideline price.

Will be very interested to see how high it goes - also interested to see that it's painted, given my recent experience with my painted Good Wear A-1 replica.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I note the stitch marks from the label on the Admiral's jacket shows a much larger label than the Air Associates one Dr H. posted. Not being knowledgable on issued A1s, would such a large label be normal on these jackets?

 

[Dr H]

Pete, the common label on the 31-800 P contract is this one without a manufacturer listed (the Gordon & Ferguson jackets have this) with a smaller size label offset.

If I could find the image, I have seen another label for the later W535 AC 2486 contract (W535 AC 2486, DWG No. 074734, circa 1928) by Mirabelli Bros. Co., Elizabeth, N. J.

In this case, the size label was of the same depth as the contract tag and placed directly alongside.

However, these were both AAC A-1 jackets, rather than a naval 37J1.

Seen here on an ELC repro, based on an authentic jacket in Gary Eastman's collection:

I looked closely at the Air Associates label and as the civvy jacket had been relined, the label had been removed, the sides folded over for some reason and then reattached, so it looks unusually narrow.

 

[Dr H]

Arrgh, can't upload the image to Photobucket (wrong format), but here is the link to the EBay auction for the Mirabelli A-1 (warts and all with zipper added :-( )

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Army-Air...=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Ah I see. It was the square one I was comparing to, which must be the folded over one you're referring to. informative thread.

That eBay one above I'll post the image when I get to Firefox later.

bk

 

[Dr H]

Yes Pete, here it is:

 

[Fletch]

Very interesting, the cape is in surprisingly good condition given the age and usual fragility (I guess aided by the more limited flying undertaken by a Rear Admiral?)

He wasn't a RADM yet. A lot of WW1 era ensigns were still lieutenants in the 30s.

 

[Dr H]

He wasn't a RADM yet. A lot of WW1 era ensigns were still lieutenants in the 30s.

Thank you, I stand corrected.

 

[Fletch]

couple more observations

The 37J1 is a (heavily weathered) russet color. The painted work is more or less intact, so can we surmise that that was the original color? ISTR the spec called for chocolate brown.

Dr H gave the Mirabelli A-1 contract as Drawing No. 074734. The label looks like it says 074737.

 

[Dr H]

The original number came via the late David Brown (deeb7) on VLJF (derived from Full Gear I think), but he might have transcribed it incorrectly I guess. I'll take another look at the label...

 

[Fletch]

I've mocked up the Mirabelli label just for fun. (Yep, it's a slooow Saturday night chez Fletch.)

Note the top and bottom lines are barely visible on the original. I was halfway done before I even realized they were there.

 

[Dr H]

Slow indeed ;-)
Nice work though Fletch.
I'll see if anybody on VLJF can lay hands on the relevant page in Full Gear.
Unfortunately, this manufacturer is not mentioned in th Eastman book (although Gary's emphasis is clearly on the A-2 of course).

 

[Fletch]

According to the NJ state records, Mirabelli Bros. was a uniform maker and operated during WW1. This Wikipedia entry describes the company moving from Elizabeth to Neptune City, NJ, before WW2.

Mario Mirabelli and his brother Michael were running a military clothing manufacturing outfit in Elizabeth at the time when they purchased the building in 1940. They expanded their operations and won considerable government contracts during the Second World War. They produced close to $11 billion worth of military clothing during the war. The Mirabelli Company continued to win military contracts after the war. Mario Mirabelli was called to testify before Congress in the late 1950s when government suppliers were accused of forcing the company to manufacture items using second-rate materials that were deemed unusable by other government manufacturing outfits. The scandal hurt Mirabelli's business and reputation. They continued to win small government contracts until the early 1960s, but eventually sold the building and went out of business.

 

[pipy.sum]

Very interesting, the cape is in surprisingly good condition given the age and usual fragility (I guess aided by the more limited flying undertaken by a Rear Admiral?).

Given the possible value of these rare survivors, the possibility of a producing a fake is obvious, but it has the right colour for faded/aged cape jackets of the period and the thickness/drape of the cape (see a flying jacket of a similar vintage)

The buttons have the dished profile that are often seen in other photos of the jackets in period.

To underline the way the spec varied all over the map, the named/painted 37J1 has a snapped collar (and waistband) and five buttons, rather than the more common six for this contract.

Hi~Dr H, I noticed you posted this Air Associates A-1 which is exactly my friend had seen yesterday in a vintage store in Harajuku Japan.

You already checked their webstore, have you found the other jackets have list price except this one? My friend sent me some pictures and i'd like post on here, including this jacket's price information, how do you think about this price and do you have more information about "Air Associates A-1"?

Thanks