Some infos about California Sportwear Co.

[58panheadfan]

First of all... Hello to everybody, I'm a newby in this forum

Does anybody have some infos about California Sportwear Co.? It seems this leather jacket Company has closed doors years ago...

i.e. see following link for a tag img:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...cat=See-All-Categories&_fvi=1#ShippingPayment

Thank you! Harry

 

[CBI]

they had a contract for 1 year for Navy G-1's in 1960. One of the nicest G-1 contracts made.

 

[kojax]

CBI kojax here about the a-2 jacket i could not send you message.. the size i was looking for is a 36 R thank you

 

[CBI]

I own 2 Cal Sports G-1's both size 44 which is really a 44-46. Nice and roomy, great medium brown collar and a bit more of a chocolate brown than the standard greyish brown. I plan on selling one of them but I need to get my computer back to being able to load photos from my camera. Could take a while.

 

[Maverickson]

Hi Harry,

I too am fortunate enough to have become the owner of a size 42 California Sportswear G-1. Normally I would not be able to fit in a size 42 G-1 jacket but in the case of this maker it fits me fine.

John Chapman featured a nice size 42 California Sportswear in his Flight Jacket CD. This is what John had to say in reference to the jacket.

This jacket is from a low volume contract, the only one which California Sportswear had, from what I can tell. The contract dates to 1960, and this is interesting, because the jacket design is almost that of an M-422a. The jacket has a small back panel, and front leather that wraps around past the underarm, reminiscent of M-422a designs. The pockets are also quite far from the zipper, and the shoulders are a bit tight, especially for a jacket from 1960. Note that the pocket flaps are also angled. The leather is very stiff, some of the stiffest I've ever encountered, and it feels like the jacket would need to be worn quite a bit for it to soften. Standard to this era, there's no USN paint on the collar, but a perforation on the wind flap. The cuffs are quite large and balloon out. The label has interesting stitching on each side. As a size 42, it fits like a typical 44.


Cheers,

 

[galvestonokie]

i have had 2 California Sportwear (btw, if you check the label you will see that the company is not California SportSwear) jackets. i recently sold 1 of them on ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/112198567091?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1559.l2649) and the other is my daily wearer. Cal Sport jackets are among the largest sized G-1s in relation to the stated label size. you can read a description on http://moorecustom.com/jackets/Moore_Jackets_7823.htm.
they only made these jackets for one contract during 1960. IMHO, these are among the best post WWII Navy jackets. the only failing is the zipper. i had to replace the original zippers on both jackets with period-authentic zippers from ebay/Japan.
i tried many, many G-1s for daily wear and CalSport are the best for my body type.

 

[RiteStuffBryan]

Has anybody else posted anything about the history of California Sportswear? I searched the lounge but didn’t see anything.

Here’s what a quick google search brought up: a photo from the USC Library listed as “California Sportswear Co., May Company, 1931”.

You can clearly see the seamstresses sewing leather panels into jackets. The May Company was a chain of department stores in Southern California and Nevada (and itself a subsidiary of May Department Stores of St. Louis after the sale of the original Hamburger’s Store to the May family in 1923) that was based in Los Angeles and operated from 1881 to 1993.

I’m guessing this means that California Sportswear was actually a May Co. in-house brand, which would explain the brand’s relative prevalence.

 

[Will Zach]

The first pic is lovely. High resolution, so much detail...

 

[tmitchell59]

Has anybody else posted anything about the history of California Sportswear? I searched the lounge but didn’t see anything.

Here’s what a quick google search brought up: a photo from the USC Library listed as “California Sportswear Co., May Company, 1931”.

View attachment 564108

You can clearly see the seamstresses sewing leather panels into jackets. The May Company was a chain of department stores in Southern California and Nevada (and itself a subsidiary of May Department Stores of St. Louis after the sale of the original Hamburger’s Store to the May family in 1923) that was based in Los Angeles and operated from 1881 to 1993.

View attachment 564109

I’m guessing this means that California Sportswear was actually a May Co. in-house brand, which would explain the brand’s relative prevalence.

I have searched for information on CSC for several years. I have found very little in the sources I have looked. I have a couple of pieces somewhere. One about the owners and I recall 1931 was the date of founding. CSC joined in a lawsuit to challenge the use of "made in California" Californian , by non Cali makers. They prevailed c.1950.

I have failed to find any literature/catalog, specific to the company. They are listed in some newspaper ads I have. They were advertised and sold all over the country.

Most of the information is left in the leather jackets. This was there business for 40+ years. I have no doubt they were the largest supplier of civilian leather outwear form mid 1930s till 1960. There jackets are well documented in Sears, Wards, catalogs. They also sold jackets with store labels or no labels. I have examples of all.

CSC along with Roughwear Clothing were probably the top 2 suppliers for Sears and Wards. The RW connection is just coming into view.

I have owned many of their jackets and find them to be high quality. They also were very innovative, creating many interesting jackets styles. They also used the best leathers, I would assume from the West coast.

They were a "mass" producer in terms of numbers and comparison with other makers. This was a time when there was an abundance of small regional leather makers, especially in California. No one was producing huge amounts of anything in the 1930s.

They were friends with Hollywood, using Ray Milland, Ronald Reagan, and other Hollywood names to advertise their products. They were big time in the industry.

I will dig up what little information I have.

 

[Kunja]

Nice to see the photo and learn a little more about the company.

 

[Nacho]

We're all aware of the infamous CSC jacket with the tag "Styled by Ronnie Reagan" that has been sitting on eBay for ages. Still BIN at $1999 or Best Offer. When are these sellers gonna learn??? (facepalm)

Anyways, here is another example of CSC using celebrities to endorse their product. This time is actor Alan Ladd, hailing from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Don't know much about him. Way before my time.

And of course, Welsh-American actor Ray Milland, from Neath, UK as mentioned by Terry from above.

They were friends with Hollywood, using Ray Milland, Ronald Reagan, and other Hollywood names to advertise their products. They were big time in the industry.

 

[Benny Holiday]

@Nacho: To quote from a classic Aussie movie called The Castle, "Tell 'm he's dreaming!"