GOLDEN BEAR SPORTSWEAR mfg A2 jackets during WWII

[green papaya]

Golden Bear Sportswear in San Francisco once made leather flight jackets for the military during WWII and they are still in business for over 86 years.

Started in 1922 on the waterfronts of San Francisco, Golden Bear create tough, durable leather jackets for longshoremen, who carried cargo, literally, on their backs.

Golden Bear gained fame during World War II, when pilots of the Flying Tigers, The P-38’s, Hellcats and the Flying Fortresses, wore their jackets. Sixty years later, they remain stylish and practical.

http://www.goldenbearsportswear.com/

 

[BellyTank]

Did they really?


B
T

 

[scotrace]

Any examples?

 

[Havana]

13 of their 15 'casual jackets' are listed as imported. This could possibly mean that they are assembled of imported materials but that contrasts with the 2 jackets labeled "Made in the USA." It probably means made in China just like most jackets offered by premium retailers like Nieman Marcus all the way down to the $80 jackets at Burlington Coat Factory.

 

[Fletch]

Golden Bear Sportswear in San Francisco once made leather flight jackets for the military during WWII

Every leathermaker old enough to claim so invariably does. None elaborate or show anything convincing.

If you look at actual known contracts, you won't find more than a few makers that are still going today. And those have left the leather and/or jacket biz.

 

[Jacob Dubow]

Any examples?

I second this question......any firm evidence of A-2 production or, since you mentioned Hellcat pilots, is their any evidence of them producing M-422A's??


J.A. Dubow

 

[green papaya]

I emailed Customerservice@Goldenbearsportswear.com

and asked if they can provide any evidence of A2 jacket production during WWII

 

[Mike K.]

I'm turning blue holding my breath! lol

 

[1stsargent]

Living in SF I am familiar with their stuff and though most of there styles are not for me there jackets are of good quality. They are often found in boutique type of retailers. It is likely they made something for the armed forces in ww2 but I think its very unlikely they made any flight jackets. It seems that every old leather company makes that claim at one point.

 

[johnnyjohnny]

it's a BeaR of a cLaim

i'm familiar with golden bear oNLy becuase i have nothing better to do with my life than pore over ebay jackets for sale...

i can say that, while i've seen many golden bear a-2 jackets, noNe (as in n-o-n-e) of them have ever been a contract (meaning govt contract) jacket...they have all been, and often advertised, as civilian a-2s...i have looked at them closely and aside from not having a govt contract label in aNNNNNNy of them, they usually have some civilian feature on each a-2 i've seen, such as a snap where the collar hook should be, or a yoke rather than 1-piece back...

howeVaHHHHHHH...i will say they are probably the nicest of the civilian a-2s i have seen...all of them were clearly from the 40s or 50s

for what it's worth...not to suggest ebay is the uLtimate research resource (those b@st@rds!) ...however, if there were mil contract golden bear jackets, they likely would have made their way to that God forsaken land of the baY...

johnny ('what? mE anGry?') johnny

 

[Senicko_Spain]

No lies, they simply state their jackets were worn by pilots during the war as were many PP A-2s.

Golden Bear gained fame during World War II, when pilots of the Flying Tigers, The P-38’s, Hellcats and the Flying Fortresses, wore their jackets.

 

[green papaya]

No lies, they simply state their jackets were worn by pilots during the war as were many PP A-2s.

I have a book called HELL BENT for LEATHER by Derek Nelson & Dave Parsons

they say the AVG [Flying Tigers] Navy G-1s were bought from WILLIS & GEIGER as part of the initial outfitting of the AVG.

and a leather jacket on the black market went for as much as $300

I agree they would have worn private purchase leather jackets, so it's possible they could have worn some made by Golden Bear Sportswear of San Francisco.

 

[Fletch]

Take Hell Bent with a good lick of salt. It's basically a buddy-buddy effort with a few '80s era jacket makers (notably W&G) to help them make a market and refine a legend for their brand names. That includes some selective myth-building.

That said, there are some great pictures and anecdotes in the book. Just don't buy into any claims involving makers.

 

[Senicko_Spain]

Take Hell Bent with a good lick of salt. It's basically a buddy-buddy effort with a few '80s era jacket makers (notably W&G) to help them make a market and refine a legend for their brand names. That includes some selective myth-building.

That said, there are some great pictures and anecdotes in the book. Just don't buy into any claims involving makers.

I agree 100% with Fletch, even had our old buddy Stu quoting his warped view of history as well. :eusa_doh:

 

[FreshHell]

New Golden Bear

For what it's worth, Sierra Trading Post sells new Golden Bear jackets at a deep discount. I am new to the list so I hope reference to vendors doesn't violate the rules. I am not associated with the vendor in any way other than as customer.

 

[johnnyjohnny]

INDo-CHiNeSe 'Bear'...

just checked sierra trading post...all the 'Golden Bear' on there were either Indian or Chinese...different than what the name 'golden bear of San Francisco'
suggests...

couldn't find a website for golden bear...

nothing per se against Indian and Chinese jackets, but for me, looking through them, there is a quality in the design that doesn't have the look that u.s.-built golden bear, or u.s. built jackets (mil or motorcycle) have...especially the golden bear a-2 style on sierra...much different than what they were

 

[srivats]

There is a auction in ebay now that shows a A2/G1 hybrid civilian jacket made by this company ... and that probably is the market that they catered to ...

 

[Mike K.]

Golden Bear Sportswear - Do The Pooh With Your A-2!

Just like the jackets worn by fearless pilots in combat! Complete with exact replica South America escape map liner, hand warmer pockets, YKK zipper, and authentic 4-piece back.

lol lol lol

 

[BellyTank]

couldn't find a website for golden bear...

nothing per se against Indian and Chinese jackets, but for me, looking through them, there is a quality in the design that doesn't have the look that u.s.-built golden bear, or u.s. built jackets (mil or motorcycle) have...especially the golden bear a-2 style on sierra...much different than what they were

Try the opening post.
Hmmm... all those jackets look Chinese!


B
T

 

[johnnyjohnny]

oMaGoSH! you're RiGHT!

you're right...they do...

more seriously...the goldenbear site doesn't open for me from the top link (maybe they read my post)

when i go to google to get another link to their site, i found one that opens, but where they have blank ad windows on various pages of jackets...then maybe a picture of only one...

the ones i could find on the site are not any relation to the older 40s-50s stuff...totally looks like the pakistani/indian/chinese mall jackets and discount website jackets...nothing wrong if that's one's taste...i think the median taste around here desires a bit more authenticity...even if it's only authenticity to earlier versions of legitimately u.s.-made styles from the past

but who am i to say...