Italian Military Jacket

[randooch]

Hey, folks! I just stumbled onto this ebay item. Looks like it might be a square deal. Anyone familiar with this style/vintage? How old would it be?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Italian-Militar..._s_Clothing&hash=item1e5f3880e7#ht_1535wt_693

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

I'm not sure about the particulars, so take this as a simple suggestion, but for sure italian Police used leather double-breasted jackets just like this one till the '60s and probably '70s too. I'm too young to remember having seen one in person on a policeman, but I've seen many of them in old movies or TV news etc., and there's a militaria dealer who's constantly selling some of these in my town. Next time I'll see one, I'll check the particulars to control if it's the very same jacket, but it really looks so.

(on the other hand, I clearly remember policemen wearing zippered black leather jacktes in winters when I was a boy, but that's another item alltogether).
Ciao!

 

[randooch]

Thanks, wiseguy! I'll be curious to know the price your local dealer wants. I guess 70 bucks is too steep!

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

I couldn't find one of those jackets in these days unluckily, but I did my homework and searched the italian side of the Internet: I found someone selling the jacket (it's definitely the same) as an italian Polizia Stradale (Highway Police, more or less) jacket, for 50s euro

These coats used to have a leather belt, too, which got lost most of the times; and I'm pretty sured they have been issued also to local police forces, and maybe even to Carabinieri and probably to army tankers at some point.

Ciao!!