Questions About the United States Navy Peacoat

[JAGG]

I have made mistakes a few times, but I have never been wrong. My mistake in this case was in not asking you for better pictures of your coat.

Now that you have provided better pictures, and that I have reevaluated the improved quality pictures and the tag in conjunction with the pictures, I can state with a fair degree of peacoat certainty that this is a mid to late 30s peacoat.

So, as you can see, I wasn't wrong; I just made a mistake. And I attribute that mistake to you as I seldom make mistakes.

If your coat has no throat latch, nor buttons for them, we can assume it was made without the throat latch,. I mean that was well over 80 years ago. No telling what features were included back then.

Hey, you wrote the book, of course you are infallible. After all, this is the Peacoat religion, isn’t it?

So that was a surprise, I assumed this would be a ww2 issue coat and not earlier. When I looked at the collar again, I do see that it is quite a bit narrower than ww2 collars. Is this part of why you concluded it is pre ww2 issue? Anyway, the narrowness may explain why no throat latch needed, so this might be a part of pre war ID. Anyway, glad I don’t need to search for a latch I would never use anyway. Included is pic of collar up close showing size difference.

 

[JAGG]

And one more question for now. This old coat is in excellent condition, except all the button holes on one side are blown out. No fabric tears, but stitching around holes gone. The unused sides button holes are all perfect (no surprise). Is this a repair that a seamstress/tailor can make, if so is it done by machine (cheap and quick) or done by hand (time consuming to do all five holes)?

 

[Peacoat]

Hey, you wrote the book, of course you are infallible. After all, this is the Peacoat religion, isn’t it?

So that was a surprise, I assumed this would be a ww2 issue coat and not earlier. When I looked at the collar again, I do see that it is quite a bit narrower than ww2 collars. Is this part of why you concluded it is pre ww2 issue? Anyway, the narrowness may explain why no throat latch needed, so this might be a part of pre war ID. Anyway, glad I don’t need to search for a latch I would never use anyway. Included is pic of collar up close showing size difference.
View attachment 658421

Any way you could use a flash when you take these pictures? Or perhaps take them outdoors? Or even have you hold a flashlight while a pretty girl takes the pictures?

 

[JAGG]

I tried, but the pretty girl didn’t want to be in the picture. No sunlight so hopefully these will suffice. Point of these pictures being, on this coat the collar is narrower (2-3/4”) than the lapel (4-1/4”). On the ww2 coats I see, the reverse seems to be true. True or not? True on your 1930s coat?

Button-hole repair?

 

[Peacoat]

Below is a link to instructions for the iPhone camera flash.

how to turn on flash for iphone camera

 

[JAGG]

This is an iPad, not an iPhone. No built in light, so I used a flashlight in the above two pics. If those still aren’t good enough, I’ll take the same outside today.

 

[JAGG]

OK, so these were taken outside. Hopefully they show what you’re looking for. One thing I noticed by having it outside, is that there is a missing rectangular label in the center back lining below the collar. Would have been nice to have it, but there’s nothing left but the sewing machine holes. The tag that you can see seems to just be a stapled on cleaners tag. LMK if there’s something else you want to see. Thanks

And you can see one of the blown out button holes in the pic, that I would like to have repaired, if possible.

 

[JAGG]

So I looked up buttonhole repair on this forum (why didn’t I think of that before) and found that this Is probably best left to a seamstress, who can apparently handle this repair. Not something worth attempting without a lot of sewing machine experience, or lots and lots of time to do by hand.

 

[Peacoat]

So I looked up buttonhole repair on this forum (why didn’t I think of that before) and found that this Is probably best left to a seamstress, who can apparently handle this repair. Not something worth attempting without a lot of sewing machine experience, or lots and lots of time to do by hand.

I think the best repairs are made by a dedicated buttonhole repair machine.

 

[thebristolbloke]

It took me a while as i've been busy, the pics aren't in the right order or just the "best" in general am afraid

But thanks to Mr Peacoat - I am a happy English bloke!

1949 US Navy Pea Coat
Size 40
Three visible buttons each side, two non visible - one missing.
Externally has some moth damage to one side.
Internally the lining is worn, arm sleeve lining detached right hand side.
Corduroy pockets, two buttons have been sewn through.

Needs a good clean but fits a dream. It's a little ropier than the seller described but for my first "proper" Pea Coat I couldn't actually be happier. It's a miracle that it fits as I took a guess on the size - it was either "Buy it Now" or risk losing it while I went to buy a tape measure.

It was £50 sterling which I think is a steal for a coat like this. Am anticipating laying out another £100 or so to get it repaired.

Annoyingly I only noticed the missing button as I took the pics, so a replacement has to be found before I can take it to the tailors :-D

I've got some questions about the repairs but any thoughts much appreciated from the forum!

All the best

Phil

 

[Preppy Climber]

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow U.S. Navy peacoat enthusiasts!

 

[Peacoat]

And Happy Thanksgiving to you. Hope you are warmer where you are than where we are.

 

[Preppy Climber]

And Happy Thanksgiving to you. Hope you are warmer where you are than where we are.

Thank you, Peacoat! 65 degrees and sunny camping at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, (Southern) CA.

 

[thebristolbloke]

Looking at replacement buttons, I need to buy some before I can send the Pea Coat off to the tailors. Ebay is showing a number in the US but the cost of shipping is ... significant :-/

I was thinking of maybe snipping the remaining top left hidden button and keeping it as a spare. Then ordering three of these, one for each "hidden" side button - and a spare.

Anyone got any thoughts on the below?

https://dottodotstudio.co.uk/produc...m-50-lignes-26mm-40-lignes-sold-individually/

Am still ploughing through this massively educational thread and have already found answers to things i'd got questions on. Still got plenty of thread pages (and questions!) though.

All the best

Phil

 

[spoonbelly1950]

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow U.S. Navy peacoat enthusiasts!

Thank you. I'm a former Pea Coat Addict. I have no more room in my closet for even 1 more coat!!

 

[Preppy Climber]

Thank you. I'm a former Pea Coat Addict. I have no more room in my closet for even 1 more coat!!

I just got back from a dog walk, 48 degrees outside. My WWII peacoat (one of three that I own), with the collar popped, kept me warm and cozy.

 

[spoonbelly1950]

I just got back from a dog walk, 48 degrees outside. My WWII peacoat (one of three that I own), with the collar popped, kept me warm and cozy.

Hi Preppy I'm not at all surprised that it kept you warm, Winter is finally coming to our area of NY. We are 61 miles north of the Bronx/ Westchester border. High temps in the low 30s and low temps upper teens to low 20s. for the whole week. I have my closet packed and I'm ready to go.

 

[Preppy Climber]

Hi Preppy I'm not at all surprised that it kept you warm, Winter is finally coming to our area of NY. We are 61 miles north of the Bronx/ Westchester border. High temps in the low 30s and low temps upper teens to low 20s. for the whole week. I have my closet packed and I'm ready to go.

Brrrr....

 

[JAGG]

Looking at replacement buttons, I need to buy some before I can send the Pea Coat off to the tailors. Ebay is showing a number in the US but the cost of shipping is ... significant :-/

I was thinking of maybe snipping the remaining top left hidden button and keeping it as a spare. Then ordering three of these, one for each "hidden" side button - and a spare.

Anyone got any thoughts on the below?

https://dottodotstudio.co.uk/produc...m-50-lignes-26mm-40-lignes-sold-individually/

Am still ploughing through this massively educational thread and have already found answers to things i'd got questions on. Still got plenty of thread pages (and questions!) though.

All the best

Phil

Here in the US it’s easy enough to find the original Bakelite buttons, either eBay or I found them at my closest army/navy store. (Unfortunately I haven’t had same success finding one of the gold plated buttons I need since those weren’t used as much in the size I need). The ones you found in England look like a close match in appearance and material, and cheap as the ones at my army/navy store, so if you get a couple and they arent close enough you could just keep looking.

I will be impressed if you can get that moth damage repaired, so do post some before and after pics. Make sure you clean the coat to remove any remaining moth eggs: you definitely don’t want to introduce those into your wardrobe since they are almost impossible to get rid of.

 

[JAGG]

I think the best repairs are made by a dedicated buttonhole repair machine.

Where do I find someone with one of these? Have you had this done?