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Mystery G-1 jacket

SamReu

One of the Regulars
Messages
192
Location
Red Clay USA
Hi, folks, and, yes, it's been a while since I was in the Lounge. An oversight, surely.

Need your help. I got a battered G-1 off eBay for a decent price, and it was everything advertised. The label is missing, so I am not sure what company made it. I do have a few hints:

1. The "USN" stamped in the windflap is not horizontal, that is, with each letter side-by-side. It's vertical: The "U" is atop the "S," the "S" atop the "N." Also, each letter is only about 1 inch high -- perhaps half the size of the stamped letters I'm accustomed to seeing.

2. The zipper is a bell-tab Conmar. Works pretty good, too.

3. The pocket flaps come to a slight point. They aren't as pointed as the WWII-era naval flight jackets, but they do have a more defined point than models that followed in the Vietnam era.

4. The waist band is the old bi-weave design.

Well, folks, what have I got? Thanks.
 

Atticus Finch

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,718
Location
Coastal North Carolina, USA
I always enjoy going out on a limb. Slightly pointed (but not scalloped) pocket flaps, bell Conmar zipper, rib rack waist band and a perforated wind flap all speak to me of a 1960 MIL-J-7823 (AER). But I don't know which of the makers used a vertical "USN" perforation.

AF
 

SamReu

One of the Regulars
Messages
192
Location
Red Clay USA
G1 A.jpg G1 C.JPG G1 B.JPG

Not great photos, I agree. Please note the final shot; look hard and you can discern the smaller USN in a vertical pattern. This stumps me. I prowled about on the Internet and discovered that it is most likely early 1960. Tthe mouton collar, with a lovely reddish tint, is nearly flawless -- is the best feature of this G-1.

Like me, the jacket has been scuffed about a bit. It is far from flawless, like -- well, you know. I like it.
 
Last edited:

thor

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
NYC, NY
I've heard that stocks of unissued WWII jackets were stamped with the "USN" after the war to bring them up to the new Navy specs of the new 1950's G-1 jackets. Not 100% certain, but that could explain the unusual USN stamping your jacket has on it's windflap.
 

SamReu

One of the Regulars
Messages
192
Location
Red Clay USA
Thank you, Mr. Finch. I saw a Cagleco online and wondered if I might have one. I believe you are correct.

(By the way: I am from North Carolina; lived in New Bern and Morehead City before heading west, then south, then north, and finally back south.)
 

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