Ricky Jackets

[billyspew]

A rather tame example:

If only it were a little smaller...

 

[thunderw21]

Another, this one made of fuzzy wool.

 

[resortes805]

It might as well be named after Ricky Nelson.


.

Yes! I've always associated the "Ricky" of the "Ricky" gab jackets with Ricky Nelson.

 

[scotrace]

Another item that got its name from that show: The Western Electric 302 is often called "the I Love Lucy Phone."

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Ok, I will come right out with it. Who is Ricky Nelson?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The father of Matthew and Gunnar Nelson.

.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

..and the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Also the brother of David.
HD

 

[Forgotten Man]

I like IKE!

I believe before "Ricky" it was an "IKE" jacket!

Originally came from Dwight D Eisenhower's taste for cut down tunics that became popular during the last half of WWII.

The popularity of the short jacket and the popularity of IKE in the post war years mixed and then they were known as "IKE" Jackets I believe.

Those coats came in wool gab, rayon gab and heavy wool... two tone, single tone, reversible and so on. I have a few standard single tone gab short jackets from the late 40s or early 50s my self. The likes of the "IKE" jacket can be seein in typical service uniforms such as bus drivers, service station attendents and so on.

Desi Arnez only wore one two toned "IKE" jacket on the show, it was dark wtih stripped collar and cuffs... and a sripped waistband I believe.

Funny how names to items of clothing comes around huh?

 

[Guttersnipe]

I use "Ike" or "Ricky" interchangeably

But , yeah I definitely agree with Forgotten Man that the post-war popularity of the "Ricky" jacket really germinated from the "Ike" Jacket (or M-1944 for you WW2 types).

However, jackets of a similar cut were definitely around in the 30's (like the British P-37 Battle Dress Jacket - again, keeping you WW2 fans happylol )

The term Ricky Jacket gets tossed around a lot on e-bay as a search keyword for any short jacket from the 40's - 60's. That's why the term has become so common. My 93 year-old grandpa (who, from looking at photo albums, was a BIG fan of this style of jacket back in the day) commented that he really liked my "sports jacket" last time I visited him wearing a "Ricky jacket"

 

[reetpleat]

I think back in the day, it was just called a jacket. They didn't seem to worry too much about it.

 

[tylerevansokay]

Ok, I will come right out with it. Who is Ricky Nelson?

 

[Chasseur]

One thing I find very interesting is how certain names for items we use today are given to them after they stopped being worn. Perhaps it is the same for the Ricky jacket? Just curious.

I can think of older examples, the classic 18th century "tri-cornored hat" was not called that at the time, it was called a "hat" or a "cocked hat" we just gave that name to it later on after no one wore it.

Similar to for the term "heater" for the classic knight's diamond shaped shield, my understanding is that was a Victorian term given to the item since it resembled the bottom of a clothes iron.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

It might as well be named after Ricky Nelson.

No, Ricky Nelson's signature jacket was a 'bomber,' with knit collar and cuffs.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

No, Ricky Nelson's signature jacket was a 'bomber,' with knit collar and cuffs.

Then we should call that a ricky jacket, in order to confuse things even more.

.

 

[Feraud]

One thing I find very interesting is how certain names for items we use today are given to them after they stopped being worn. Perhaps it is the same for the Ricky jacket? Just curious.

I can think of older examples, the classic 18th century "tri-cornored hat" was not called that at the time, it was called a "hat" or a "cocked hat" we just gave that name to it later on after no one wore it.

Similar to for the term "heater" for the classic knight's diamond shaped shield, my understanding is that was a Victorian term given to the item since it resembled the bottom of a clothes iron.

Very good perspective. We have discussed the term "bash" and whether it was used in the heyday of hatwearing. It seems to be an after the fact term.

 

[tylerevansokay]

But , yeah I definitely agree with Forgotten Man that the post-war popularity of the "Ricky" jacket really germinated from the "Ike" Jacket (or M-1944 for you WW2 types).

However, jackets of a similar cut were definitely around in the 30's (like the British P-37 Battle Dress Jacket - again, keeping you WW2 fans happylol )

The term Ricky Jacket gets tossed around a lot on e-bay as a search keyword for any short jacket from the 40's - 60's. That's why the term has become so common. My 93 year-old grandpa (who, from looking at photo albums, was a BIG fan of this style of jacket back in the day) commented that he really liked my "sports jacket" last time I visited him wearing a "Ricky jacket"

My 2 Ricky jackets are also tagged as sport jackets on the label. Just thought I'd throw that in for what it's worth.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

How old Sky king's niece Penny is today

Wikipedia:

Jimmy Buffett states that, "I shudder to think how old Sky king's niece Penny is today."

(referring the song Pencil Thin Mustache)

That would be 76 years, her birthday is November 28, 1932.

 

[john z]

Reversible 50s 'Ricky' Jacket

I had one of these many years ago. It was a lucky find on the Portobello Road Market in London. It cost me £3 if my memory serves me right. Sadly I wasn't so aware of the value of these particular jackets at the time & exchanged it after a short ownership for some other item of clothing long forgotten. There are, I think, in most peoples lives things that are parted with with lasting regret. That reversible jacket is one of my long time regrets.

So some while ago now I decided to exorcise this particular ghost & began the hunt in earnest for a replacement jacket, eBay being the main source I've found. My criteria for the replacement was fourfold.

It had to be a relatively small size, 40 chest with a narrow shoulder.
The patterned side had to be of the archetypal 'Atomic' (as it is referred to these days) variety.
It had to be in clean, strong with minimum wear condition as I wanted a jacket I could wear often without it coming apart, even with the most care.
Last but not least it had to be affordable.

I found that finding such an example was not an easy task.

Many of these jackets seemed to have been made for the big guys at the time rather than us relatively (well me anyway) puny Brits.
There are a lot of the jackets, although reversible, that are plain both sides or, if patterned, are awful examples.
Due to them being cloth & some 55-60 yrs old they inevitably have areas of wear and/or discolouration.
Also there is no such thing as a cheap example.

Finally after searching on and off for some years this week an example was listed which fitted all my criteria bar one - it wasn't that affordable. Regardless my heart got the better of my head & last night I placed the one and only winning bid. It's a size 40, 18" across the shoulders & in amazingly good condition with a not-to-subtle cross hatched patterned side. I just hope it fits as well as I'm anticipating when it arrives.

Here are the pictures of both the patterned & plain sides taken from the Seller's listing:

 

[DoubleXX]

Nice gab jacket. I had a similar one in chocolate brown with a white and yellow cross-hatch print. I've been collecting gabardine jackets for a long time...have had them in every print...thunderbird, argyle, two-tone, atomic, etc. I'm down to just two at the moment.

Did you get this one off of ebay? That's normally a $200-$300 jkt.

 

[john z]

Thanks. Any chance of a look at the two you have?

Yes, it was an eBay purchase at the higher end of that price band you quoted.