Mystery Meat...or shoudl i say leather?

[Mr. Rover]

I had the pleausure of visiting my friend at his East Hampton vacation home, but on the way, I found a nice little vintage store, and on an impulse buy, I found a vintage A-2 leather jacket. The tag wasn't there, but it fit nicely, with a teensy weensy bit of room for me to grow into. What can I say? It's an investment. The nice part is that it was broken in for me already. But...I can't seem to tell what kind of leather it is. I took some pictures of the grain compared to a 1944 Mercury Dime. Can anyone tell me what kinda leather it might be?

ray

 

[BellyTank]

Looks like Goatskin by the grain but it could be 'texturised' cow, depending on the maker. Goatskin is the most supple and hard wearing of hides.

B
T

 

[jake431]

Looks like goatskin to me too. Is the zipper original to the jacket? I think those paperclip puller zips date to the 1960's, but I could be wrong...

-Jake

 

[Mr. Rover]

I assume it is original. It is a YKK, not a talon.

 

[jake431]

Most likely later than the '60s then. Does it have any tags in the pockets?

-Jake

 

[BellyTank]

The pocket flaps are saying 'Cooper' but the two snaps at the bottom are a departure from any A-2 spec. Cooper make, or made Goat A-2s anyway.
Cooper or Avirex, etc but probably Cooper.
If it fits in all the right places, then that's the most important thing and the Goat is a bonus. One-piece back and two-piece sleeves puts it ahead of the worst of the repros and in keeping with spec-

I'm sure it's a Cooper-

Probably no older than '80s I reckin...


B
T

 

[Mr. Rover]

Oh, well! Gotta start somewhere right!

 

[BellyTank]

Nothing wrong with it- it has that vintage style and is a great accesory! :cheers1:

B
T

 

[jake431]

Yeah, don't be glum - it's got nice narrow shoulders, one piece back, two piece arms, and what appears to be goatskin in an authentic brown color. With those details, from a distance your jacket will look and fit like a nice private purchase A-2. Hell, I'm jealous. When I was a Junior in High School I appropriated my Dad's old leather jacket as my first "flight jacket" which had absolutely NO A-2 features whatsoever.

-Jake

 

[Mr. Rover]

The only thing I'm glum about is that it's too d#mn hot in Taiwan to wear goatskin for another month and a half...

 

[BellyTank]

...your jacket time will come young master...

B
T

 

[Mr. Rover]

Still not jacket season yet, but my 1949 Air Force pants came today and I thought it would look cool with the A-2. Ah..the joys of air conditioning. For the record, it was 94 degrees with 80% relative humidity today. Nowhere near jacket weather.

 

[MudInYerEye]

Adorn thyself with steel-toed work boots and a billyclub and you'll make a fine lving as a strikebreaker.