Peacoat with Dragon

[LittleOwl]

Hello, I was hoping someone here could help me fiind some answers. My great uncle passed away last May and my aunt is starting to go through all their things. My uncle served in WWII and the Korean War. He had a peacoat that I'm guessing it is from his time aboard a navy repair ship stationed in Sasebo, Japan. The unusual thing about the coat is the inside lining has an embroidered dragon and my uncle's name above it. My aunt tells me a lot of the guys did this. Has anybody heard of this? Thanks!

 

[CC-1]

Dragon

For sure! Very common for guys to get their clothing custom fitted and embroidered in Asian ports where workmanship was high and prices real low.
The blues were also pegged and fitted, so close that zippers had to be installed to get them on. The inside of the cuffs were embroidered, usually with dragons and the like (white stripes on the outside were regulation)
Think of it as clothing tattoos! Very "salty" and definitely Navy.

 

[Navin323i]

Hopefully if you wind up getting this jacket you can post up pictures of it... sounds like a beautiful-looking jacket.

 

[High Iron]

My Grandfather served in the navy aboard the USS Delta (AR-9) which was a repair ship. He and your uncle could have been shipmates. His peacoat had a dragon embroidered in the lining. My cousin Heather has the coat now and takes very good care of it. I've been meaning to see if she could take some pics of it for me. I'll shoot her an email and see what comes up. If I get them, I'll post 'em. I have a few other thing that would be cool to post pertaining to this thread.

 

[savoy6]

CC is quite correct..though specific areas that you visited had differing specialties...at least when i was in in the late '80s...the pea coat lining embroidery was what you got when you visited japan,the satin west pac "Tour Jacket" was an item from Korea and Japan.in the Philipines you got your dungarees fitted and had you name embroidered on your dungaree shirts and pants instead of the usual stencil.Hong Kong is where you got your blues fitted and got things like cuff dragons or other designs put in...these were usually shown off by turning your cuffs up while you were out drinking and such...that way folks would know you were a shellback and not just some boot camp....though i don't have any idea on what they can add to those hideous new digital camo uniforms that the Navy is using now..
hope you get the pea coat...it's a good piece of kit..

 

[High Iron]

Interesting stuff Savoy. I don't want to hijack LittleOwls post so I'm going to start a thread in the display case section. I don't have much to show off but kind of cool, I think.

 

[Spoonbelly]

Pea Coat With Dragon

There was one on ebay a few weeks ago.

 

[Navin323i]

Man, I'd really enjoy seeing pics of this type of peacoat with a dragon on it... someone please post up a pic.

 

[Corto]

Not exactly about embroidered jackets but here's a great article on the tradition of Liberty Cuffs.

Lee and Jackson Militaria also have some great examples of embroidered jackets. (Though I'm not sure where...you'll have to poke around...)

Please post some photos, OP!

 

[LittleOwl]

Photos

Sorry had to get the baby to bed!

Shots are kinda blurry. My great uncle was aboard the USS Luzon in the early fifties. He ran the kitchen and feed the crew. Had some hilarious stories like the peach pie turning into peach cobbler during rough seas.

Would love to see more photos - please post if you have any

 

[Corto]

WOW. That is quite awesome work on that pea-coat! Thanks for the pics!

 

[High Iron]

Thanks for posting photos. That is a beautiful coat. I'll make sure to post photos of my grandfathers when I get them.