Blatt, Chicago

[Baron Kurtz]

Continuing the theme of threads devoted to the great vintage leather manufactories, I thought a thread on the company with IMO the greatest name of any - Blatt - would be worthwhile. I own a Blatt jacket from the late 40s, and will upload pics when I get some in the next couple days.

Anyone with any info on the company or anyone who'd like to upload pics of their jackets, have at it!

For now, the awesomest label in history? From Aero's vintage sale page:

 

[bretron]

From Chi Town that's about all I know I owned a double rider a year or so back; beautiful jacket

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The Blatt's I've come across seem to be very well made indeed. The one I bought a few years ago is an interesting mix of European and American style influences in a longer "trapper" style with a spring-loaded Crown main zipper. Sadly missing its belt, but retaining the buttons on the back to hold the belt.

Pics soon.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Here are some pics of my Blatt hip-length "trapper"-style jacket from the late 40s/early 50s. Spring-loaded Crown main zip and Conmar pocket zips. Interesting scalloped chest yoke. Click for bigger pics.

 

[Dinerman]

It's funny, as many of these as seem to be out there, I can't find hardly anything about the company itself.

I like that style zipper attachment, with the free floating second layer of leather down by the zipper stop box. I think Talon pushed that setup with ads for a while in the '40s, and it was widely adopted, but doesn't seem to have lasted long.

 

[Sloan1874]

Great piece. Fantastic chest detail.

 

[feltfan]

Love the chest yoke. Would expect no less, BK.
But, er, what is a "spring-loaded" zipper?

 

[Dinerman]

The pull tab on the slider is spring loaded. It has a pin-lock to keep it from sliding up or down when you don't want it to, and the spring keeps the tab in the down position and the pin engaged in the zipper teeth.

 

[bretron]

Vintage Crown Chevron zippers; my kind of smutt!!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Not chevron, sadly, but the subsequent tooth type.

The pull tab on the slider is spring loaded. It has a pin-lock to keep it from sliding up or down when you don't want it to, and the spring keeps the tab in the down position and the pin engaged in the zipper teeth.

I agree, Dinerman. An innovation that seems to protect the bottom tooth of the male side quite well.

 

[Plumbline]

As used on the Aero ANJ-4 .... but sadly none of the others

It also makes zipping up leather jackets MUCH easier.

 

[gtdean48]

The pull tab on the slider is spring loaded. It has a pin-lock to keep it from sliding up or down when you don't want it to, and the spring keeps the tab in the down position and the pin engaged in the zipper teeth.

I have this same zipper on Hercules Halfbelt FQHH...

 

[bretron]

Not chevron, sadly, but the subsequent tooth type.

Ahh, schooled by The Man. Thx for keepin me honest, Mr Kurtz! Aren't these as rare as they are in large part because they were actually pretty junkie zippers and have not stood the test of time (and regular use) as well as Talons, Conmars etc?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm not sure about the relative quality. Maybe they just weren't as commonly used in this era. These late 1940s Crowns always seem pretty sound to me.

I will say that on the whole early 1950s zippers suffer from significant issues. The switch to newer, pretty cruddy, alloys occurred at around the same moment that most companies switched over to cast rather than folded and pressed stop boxes and sliders. British and Australian (especially the latter) Lightning zips suffer badly from sliders and stop boxes that simply crumble, snapping into pieces, the alloy was so bad. This happened at the time, and deadstock examples don't last long. Thus my desire to source zippers from the "pressed" era.

They (Crown) didn't stay in production for as long as Talon etc either. Crown zippers were produced by the The Spool Cotton Company (J & P Coats), and when they merged with The Clark Thread Co. in 1952 to form Coats & Clark, the zippers began being marked Coats Clark. There's a Crown design - which succeeds this one - that sometimes is marked Crown and sometimes Coats Clark from right around the early 1950s.

 

[Dinerman]

Ahh, schooled by The Man. Thx for keepin me honest, Mr Kurtz! Aren't these as rare as they are in large part because they were actually pretty junkie zippers and have not stood the test of time (and regular use) as well as Talons, Conmars etc?

Not at all. I find Crowns, especially post-war Crowns with the "two-way" teeth, to be some of the smoothest, most reliable zippers out there.
But like Pete says, they were a much smaller concern than Talon, with a much smaller output.

 

[Dinerman]

They (Crown) didn't stay in production for as long as Talon etc either. Crown zippers were produced by the The Spool Cotton Company (J & P Coats), and when they merged with The Clark Thread Co. in 1952 to form Coats & Clark, the zippers began being marked Coats Clark. There's a Crown design - which succeeds this one - that sometimes is marked Crown and sometimes Coats Clark from right around the early 1950s.

They were bought out by Coats/Clark in 1936, and continued producing under the Crown zipper name at least until the 1970s.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Is that so? Interesting. I don't think I've seen many Crowns later than the early 50s. Lots of Coats Clark though.

 

[Sloan1874]

My grandma worked in Coats' mill in Paisley way, way back. I remember we used drive past the old factory when we visited her:

 

[regius]

It's funny, as many of these as seem to be out there, I can't find hardly anything about the company itself.

I like that style zipper attachment, with the free floating second layer of leather down by the zipper stop box. I think Talon pushed that setup with ads for a while in the '40s, and it was widely adopted, but doesn't seem to have lasted long.

Dinerman, have you found more info in this company since the post? I've been trying to learn more about Blatt too.

 

[regius]

here's a BLATT on ebay. I own a BLATT brown mouton collared flight jacket, very nice. https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Vinta...d=253191850638&_trksid=p2060778.c100278.m3478