Dream coat: WW1 era U.S. Navy wool coat

[pedalsteel]

Hi there! First post... But I found this site last year after I scored a perfectly fitted WW2 era Peacoat in fabulous condition from a local thrift store. I went home, hopped online to see what I could find, and it led me to Peacoat's thread on dating Peacoats. Thanks for the GREAT resource, I didn't know a site like this existed and it's right up my alley... STYLE!

Anyway, being a former Photographer for the United States Navy I have a thing with Naval heritage and can't stop myself from buying all things NAVY. This past weekend I found my dream coat. I've always wanted a wool trench coat so you could imagine my surprise when I found this:

A WWI era Navy wool coat

It was my birthday weekend and my fiancé took me out thrift store shopping... She knows me too well. We went to our favorite spot to poke around a bit. As always, I go look at the coats and find what looks to be an old Navy Peacoat, but when I saw stars on the buttons, my jaw dropped! When I pulled it off the rack my jaw dropped even further as it was an extra LONG coat! What are the odds that it would FIT?! Nothing EVER fits me, I'm cursed with long arms!

ANYWAY, check out the photos. I had a hard time finding ANY info on something like this so I'm glad to be able to contribute what I can. Ask me any questions. I couldn't find sizing tag, just the tag I have pictured, which I'm guessing shows the date to be 1924. It's a long coat like Chiefs and Officers would wear, but it doesn't have shoulder boards for the rank, which is odd. Did enlisted wear this coat as well?

Only tag on the coat

Full length front

Full length rear

Found two buttons in one of the pockets! Still missing one though.

I will NOT be hanging the coat with THIS!

The wool is in FANTASTIC shape! No rips tears, holes, cig burns, etc. I haven't even cleaned it yet.

Dog tags & Russian Navy buckle

Inside all pockets

Best shot of all!

I'm looking forward to contributing more, as I love all things vintage. Thanks!

Michael

 

[bretron]

Hey, Michael. Bret here. Welcome aboard man!

That's a pretty badass score there. Picked up on one of your roadtrips?

Cheers buddy

 

[pedalsteel]

Ha! I see all your neat stuff on instagram, then I come here and find out that you da man! Leather boots and leather jackets... the next things I gotta dial in. Oh, and cigars!

 

[Peacoat]

Wow, now that is a find. Surprised Dinerman didn't find this one first. He seems to find everything else!

This is either the forerunner of the Officer/Chiefs' bridge coat, or it is a WWI peacoat. From the tag I am inclined to think the former. Also, the photographs I have of the WWI era pea coats aren't that long. The bridgecoats are much more rare than the pea coats. I had never seen a picture of one (in the wild) before you posted yours. Congratulations.

And, welcome to the Lounge. PC.

 

[Dinerman]

 

[Peacoat]

Yep, the one you have Pedal, is the officer/chief bridge coat. Very rare.

Why am I not surprised D-man could put his hands on the exact pictures we needed to nail down the type of coat you found?

Are you a musician, a pedal steel man?

 

[Tkecks]

Absolutely beautiful find. I have a modern bridgecoat, but it's nothing compared to that beauty!

 

[pedalsteel]

Yep, pedal steel in a rock band... It's a little different than country/western pedal steel!

Free streaming here at Bandcamp: http://truckstopdarlin.bandcamp.com/

A little documentary video here on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/58464632

 

[Cooperson]

A rare find and on your birthday too, sometimes things seem meant to be Band sounds great by the way!

 

[Spoonbelly]

Maybe that coat is from the Naval Academy? There is a set of those star/anchor buttons on ebay right now. They do pop up every once in a while on ebay, but not that often. I'm a former musician, but have never heard of a peddle steel in a rock band. Maybe it's a west coast thing? A couple of years ago I was lucky to find a WWII coat on ebay. What floored me was that it was almost in new condition and in my size of 46 which I'm sure is very rare for WWII. I think I paid 150 or 160 for it which is a pretty good price for a find like that.

 

[Peacoat]

Interesting concept. I thought you would use it more like a slide guitar, but it is more subdued than that. My wife was listening to it and wanted to know what the band was; she liked it.