crawl space find, montgomery ward pwer house chore jacket‏

[jim_wombat]

I found this jacket in the crawl space of my house. The house was built in 1940, and I am not sure the age of the jacket. I did a little research and found out it is a montgomery ward pwer house chore jacket, I think it was produced prior to 1960 but not sure. If you have any information about this jacket, it would be of a great help. The flash from the camera makes the denim lighter than it is. The color is a very dark indigo, and it looks to have been washed only a couple times. It is a size 42, the buttons are copper, and the only tag I could find was a union made tag sewn in the pocket with a number. I am not sure about the orange paint on the bottom, if that was how it came or what. Anyway, its a cool jacket that fits perfect and it was just thrown in a crawl space the best part it was free. Thanks for the help

 

[Papa M]

I sure wish I could find something like that in the Crawl Space of my house.

In fact I wish I actually had a Crawl Space in my house!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

W O W!!! Now that is what I call a find!

P.S. Welcome to the Lounge

 

[dhermann1]

There are union label geniuses on this forum. It's amazing, but they know them all. The label is your best bet for dating. Well, I hope you've stopped for a visit, but decide to stay for a good long spell. Fun stuff here in the Lounge. Welcome.

 

[Feraud]

That is one of the best finds I've seen in a while.
And in a crawlspace no less!
:eusa_clap

 

[PoohBang]

Looks very similar to the one I use to have. Mine still had the chest pocket tag, which helps a lot on aging it. The bottom pockets area little different than mine.

 

[gtdean48]

Does that look like Dept of Correction marking on the bottom hem? It looks a lot like the jackets that my home town County lockup used to issue.
Wonder if that is why it was thrown under the house?

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Looks like my Pointer Brand chore jacket when it was brand new.

 

[PoohBang]

It would be across the back and big so it would be easy to spot.

I'd guess some guy was under the house doing work and it got hot. He took it off and forgot it was down there. I find stuff all the time under houses.... mostly just tools that guys forgot or lost.

 

[scotrace]

A Guide to Union Labels (though many of the image links are broken). I'll make sure baron Kurtz sees this thread.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Irritatingly enough, that is one of the annoyingly difficult union labels to date. I've seen them on everything from 1920s leather jackets to 1970s girl's jeans - the hands shaking in the middle of the oval. This is quite an old jacket; just not sure how old.

 

[jim_wombat]

Thanks for all the information everyone. I think its very old as well, the denim is ring spun, all the thread is cotton, and a lot of the sewing work does not look as perfect as todays automated factories. I found it in a attic crawl space folded up, I washed it in cold water, and let it hang dry. If you could only see it, it really looks new with a dark indigo color. I am for sure keeping it, when I was in Tokyo last month I saw them everywhere, and they were all 400 dollar repros. I remember saying to myself, " I have one of those in my closet, and its orginal." Well whoever left it for me, thanks. I will take care of it, and wear it for sure.

 

[PoohBang]

If I were to guess I'd say early 1960's. What if anything does the neck tag say?

 

[jim_wombat]

the only labels are the union made label in the pocket, and the size label in the neck. The label in the neck is cotton and says 42 in black. The jacket looks to have orginally come in unwashed denim. This is obvious in the amount of shrinkage around the pockets and the bunching of fabric around the pocket seams. I have no idea when montgomery ward transistioned from pre-washed denim, and standard montgomery ward buttons. Since the company is out of business its going to be next to impossible to find out. Unless someone has the last 80 years worth of catalogs to go thru. Even then you are only going to be bale to narrow down maybe the decade, and thats really it. I should also mention that there is not a RN number on this jacket

 

[gtdean48]

It would be across the back and big so it would be easy to spot.
....

When they shutdown & moved the county work camp, a few of us went exploring. We found hats, pants, & shirts = the ones that are white with blue stripes down the seam & the buttons. All of the denim coats we found didn't have bold markings like you see on the orange jumpsuits of today. They had a simple MCDC, Macon County Dept of Corrections, on the front. That is what those orange letters reminded me of.

 

[dr greg]

OK what's a crawl space, is that different from the attic itself, is it made of those slats you see the weirdo's eyes through in all the slasher movies....you see here in the sub-tropics the walls are too thin for axe-murderers to hide in....

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

That's a helluva find. I've seen similar old workwear sell for big bucks. I'd be surprised if it's newer than mid-fifties - but I'll be watching this thread to see what more knowledgeable members say about that.

 

[Papa M]

OK what's a crawl space...

I'm glad that you asked. I assumed that it is the space underneath a house or bungalow that is jacked up off the ground. That area where all the spiders and creepy-crawlies live. Here in the UK we don't tend to construct like that.

 

[jim_wombat]

well I did a bit more research, looks like Montgomery Wards Powr House line exsisted from 1929 to 1960. So the jacket falls somewhere in that time frame. Since there is not a RN located on the jacket, that would possible put the jacket somewhere between 1929 and 1952, so I was able to cut off about a decade. After looking at some old catalog scans, I think the jacket is a powr house pioneer jacket and not a chore jacket. I think I will be hard pressed to narrow it down anymore.

 

[dr greg]

I'd never heard of Montgomery Ward until this thread, and lo and behold I've just found a MW Hawaiian shirt..probably 70's vintage..it's quite nice.