Something to read to brighten up Christmas
The Road to Galashiels.
A light hearted history of Aero Leather(Battersea) and the first leather jacket.
Battersea, South London1980. If you have ever seen the film Up the Junction(1969) you get a good idea of how Battersea and the Clapham Junction area operated. A mainly poorer area of immigrants and decaying cheap flats. Second hand furniture shops, mixed with audio supplies, greengrocers and hardware stores typical of most inner south London suburbs, a most unlikely setting to find a shop selling WWII vintage American and British flying jackets.
It was around 1980 I first found the ‘Thrift Shop’ in Falcon Road Battersea. I was looking for a shop selling motorcycle parts for my 1961 Matchless motorcycle.
I turned left from Battersea Park Road, past the famous RSPCA Dogs Home into Falcon Road, now heading south I crawled slowly down the road in my old 1960 Zephyr towards Clapham Junction where Russell Motors still stands today.
As I sat in the hot sweaty traffic, amongst the shops consisting of newsagents, motor spares and second hand goods stores I spied a large painting of a B24 Liberator hanging outside a shop front on the left.
Having purchased my bike parts I duly headed home but had to see what this shop was about.
In the widow of No 67 Falcon Road were lots of old leather jackets. I had never seen this kind of jacket before, some were painted with pin up pictures, others had bombs on them. All looked as though they had been through the war!
I went in.
The shop had bare floor boards and an aroma I had not sensed before, I had never seen so many old leather jackets. Brown leather, some with fur collars , motorcycle jackets, funny heavy looking jackets with pocket flaps but no pockets, Chicago Police embellished on the brass buttons, the only things other than bike jackets I recognised, Irvins.
Rails and rails of leather jackets, colourful Hawaiian style shirts and more jackets hanging high on the walls. That aroma was of course the now unmistakeable smell of old American leather.
“Hi” said this guy wearing one of these jackets, the manager or owner I guessed, another fellow with a dark perm also nodded, then he said something to the guy in the old leather. I heard a rather heavy Glaswegian accent. A bit scary, they both reminded me of a couple of suspects in the old 1980s series, Taggart, a gritty police series set around the tough areas of the Greater Glasgow area that was showing around that time.
As I wandered around the shop a lady appeared who was quite chatty, also Scottish(Welsh actually, with a hint of Scots in there), so I asked about some of the jackets and prices.
“Some are real collectors Items “ she said and gave me some prices that were for those times were equivalent to a week’s wages.
I left with nothing.
On to 1982, and now I had an interest in these old jackets, I think it was from watching some popular tv at the time, I also wanted one like Frank Sinatra wore in Von Ryans Express. I thought it was a motorcycle jacket with a straight zip so off I headed to Battersea for more bike bits and a stop at the jacket shop.
I can only remember looking at everything and being overawed by what was in the shop. I eventually chose a Korean war era G1, dark brown goatskin, almost black but it had the most gorgeous rich ginger collar I ever had seen. WoW! About £55 and it was mine, but I thought it was a WWII jacket; such a jacket virgin was I.
I kept the G1 till I decided I wanted the Air Force jacket, so saved up and headed to Battersea yet again.
What I wanted was a WWII jacket I was to discover called an A2. I wanted a nice one and in the window was the perfect thing.
‘Flack Jack’ was painted on the chest, with a signpost, and if I remember Bugs Bunny leaning on it.
“How much is that Flack Jack jacket`’ I asked the same Scotsman, now wearing a light brown A2 with a grim reaper( 13th Bomb squadron patch I was later to discover) painted on the chest.
“ It’s a film prop and we rent it out” the shop manager replied.
“Is it for sale then?” I asked.
“Yes but not for a couple of weeks, they are picking it up later”
I left with nothing.
After the said fortnight I phoned the ‘Thrift Shop’
“Has the Flack Jack jacket come back” I asked
“Sorry not yet”
And so for about a month the conversation went back and forth.
Finally Ken, as I was now on name terms, gave me the sorrowful news, “The film company has decided to keep it” I was informed then I asked “Do you have any originals in stock?”
“No but we are expecting a shipment soon” So back and forth the telephone conversations went on, for another two months.
Eventually Ken told me., “I don’t know when any will be arriving but I can make you one, I have some really great leather”
WoW I thought, and was back in Battersea the next Monday(I know this as I worked weekends and had Mondays off). My measurements were taken and I was told it would be ready in about 3 weeks.
I must have driven Ken mad with the amount of calls I had made, the jacket was not ready and I wanted it for a dance featuring Herb Miller, who replicated his older brother Glenn’s wartime orchestra for a show in the Crystal Palace area.
I must have taken the Saturday off, as the jacket was ready and the dance was that night way back in 1982.
I arrived at the shop, the jacket was ready, I tried it on and it fitted perfectly.
The jacket was made from that distressed leather that was popular in the late 1970s and early 80s but Ken informed me it had not been distressed yet so would wear more naturally. Most jackets in this day were made after the leather had been distressed then patterns had been cut, so the wear was uneven. I mentioned it would look better with a little wear, the jacket was a mid brown all over and what happened next almost gave me a heart attack.
“Cross your arms across your chest” I was told, almost ordered! Then Ken attacked the creases with some rough sand paper making some wear points in these areas.
Well I had my jacket and it was that evening I debuted that first Aero A2. Lounging at the bar a young guy came up to me, I was 23, he about 19 asked, “Were did you get that old jacket?” I had not noticed that I was the only person wearing this type of jacket, all the other wartime enthusiasts war uniforms, mostly genuine from all services with quite a lot of veterans attending, though this was only the beginning of a growing 40s enthusiast era.
(Pic from 1983 Mail on Sunday)
1984. And so My Matchless called me back to Falcon Road, was it more head gaskets or a new ring for the magneto I cannot remember but as I headed south I thought I would look up Aero once more.
Immediately I spotted the sign, the large white sign with the colourful B24 still heading the shop front. I parked some way down the road and walked back up towards Aero at No67.
! There was the shop, but now unoccupied, I looked up at the Liberator and she looked slightly faded, the paint starting to peel in the summer sun.
I asked around the shopkeepers but all I could be told was that they had moved on, back to Scotland
Over the next few months I ambled around my favourite vintage clothing stores, Kings Road, Kensington Market, and with the films, Top Gun, Hannover Street and Raiders of the lost Ark, imported 40s and 50s American clothing was everywhere.
A garage in Kings Road Chelsea, once known as the Bluebird Garage had been redeveloped into a vintage clothing emporium, curiously, an old Ford Anglia from the 1960s was on display outside but it had been covered in concrete. I had to go in and have a look around, and what did I find? The thickest, toughest looking leather jacket I had ever seen, a red tartan lining. Years later I was to learn, this was a Highwayman, and it was made by Aero.
Falcon Road would never be the same again.
And what of Aero? 30+ years on, many well known stores selling new clothing with a retro look, in the same minimalistic, bare floor boarded and minimal lighted reminded me of the old Thrift Shop in Battersea. Aero of course, the premier leather jacket maker located in the Scottish Borders, suppliers to the world
Oh! And what of that A2 made by Ken Calder just sitting in my wardrobe, a slightly tighter fitting than back in 1982, . The memories of lost youth linger fondly, buried in the patina of the leather, those times will always be mine something no one can ever take away.
And so I had decided, the time had come for the jacket to move on, but where? Ebay? It had no labels to attain to the jackets provenance, there were no records who made this bar the maker and an almost defunct Yahoo group. There was only one true customer for this old war horse.
And so come October the 23rd 2012 I took the train to the boarders and headed for Galashiels.
30 years on, my jacket finally met it's maker
Photo by Holly Calder.
So if anyone ever asks me how to get a jacket to look 30 years old there is only one real answer. “Wear it for 30 years”
John
The Road to Galashiels.
A light hearted history of Aero Leather(Battersea) and the first leather jacket.
Battersea, South London1980. If you have ever seen the film Up the Junction(1969) you get a good idea of how Battersea and the Clapham Junction area operated. A mainly poorer area of immigrants and decaying cheap flats. Second hand furniture shops, mixed with audio supplies, greengrocers and hardware stores typical of most inner south London suburbs, a most unlikely setting to find a shop selling WWII vintage American and British flying jackets.
It was around 1980 I first found the ‘Thrift Shop’ in Falcon Road Battersea. I was looking for a shop selling motorcycle parts for my 1961 Matchless motorcycle.
I turned left from Battersea Park Road, past the famous RSPCA Dogs Home into Falcon Road, now heading south I crawled slowly down the road in my old 1960 Zephyr towards Clapham Junction where Russell Motors still stands today.
As I sat in the hot sweaty traffic, amongst the shops consisting of newsagents, motor spares and second hand goods stores I spied a large painting of a B24 Liberator hanging outside a shop front on the left.
Having purchased my bike parts I duly headed home but had to see what this shop was about.
In the widow of No 67 Falcon Road were lots of old leather jackets. I had never seen this kind of jacket before, some were painted with pin up pictures, others had bombs on them. All looked as though they had been through the war!
I went in.
The shop had bare floor boards and an aroma I had not sensed before, I had never seen so many old leather jackets. Brown leather, some with fur collars , motorcycle jackets, funny heavy looking jackets with pocket flaps but no pockets, Chicago Police embellished on the brass buttons, the only things other than bike jackets I recognised, Irvins.
Rails and rails of leather jackets, colourful Hawaiian style shirts and more jackets hanging high on the walls. That aroma was of course the now unmistakeable smell of old American leather.
“Hi” said this guy wearing one of these jackets, the manager or owner I guessed, another fellow with a dark perm also nodded, then he said something to the guy in the old leather. I heard a rather heavy Glaswegian accent. A bit scary, they both reminded me of a couple of suspects in the old 1980s series, Taggart, a gritty police series set around the tough areas of the Greater Glasgow area that was showing around that time.
As I wandered around the shop a lady appeared who was quite chatty, also Scottish(Welsh actually, with a hint of Scots in there), so I asked about some of the jackets and prices.
“Some are real collectors Items “ she said and gave me some prices that were for those times were equivalent to a week’s wages.
I left with nothing.
On to 1982, and now I had an interest in these old jackets, I think it was from watching some popular tv at the time, I also wanted one like Frank Sinatra wore in Von Ryans Express. I thought it was a motorcycle jacket with a straight zip so off I headed to Battersea for more bike bits and a stop at the jacket shop.
I can only remember looking at everything and being overawed by what was in the shop. I eventually chose a Korean war era G1, dark brown goatskin, almost black but it had the most gorgeous rich ginger collar I ever had seen. WoW! About £55 and it was mine, but I thought it was a WWII jacket; such a jacket virgin was I.
I kept the G1 till I decided I wanted the Air Force jacket, so saved up and headed to Battersea yet again.
What I wanted was a WWII jacket I was to discover called an A2. I wanted a nice one and in the window was the perfect thing.
‘Flack Jack’ was painted on the chest, with a signpost, and if I remember Bugs Bunny leaning on it.
“How much is that Flack Jack jacket`’ I asked the same Scotsman, now wearing a light brown A2 with a grim reaper( 13th Bomb squadron patch I was later to discover) painted on the chest.
“ It’s a film prop and we rent it out” the shop manager replied.
“Is it for sale then?” I asked.
“Yes but not for a couple of weeks, they are picking it up later”
I left with nothing.
After the said fortnight I phoned the ‘Thrift Shop’
“Has the Flack Jack jacket come back” I asked
“Sorry not yet”
And so for about a month the conversation went back and forth.
Finally Ken, as I was now on name terms, gave me the sorrowful news, “The film company has decided to keep it” I was informed then I asked “Do you have any originals in stock?”
“No but we are expecting a shipment soon” So back and forth the telephone conversations went on, for another two months.
Eventually Ken told me., “I don’t know when any will be arriving but I can make you one, I have some really great leather”
WoW I thought, and was back in Battersea the next Monday(I know this as I worked weekends and had Mondays off). My measurements were taken and I was told it would be ready in about 3 weeks.
I must have driven Ken mad with the amount of calls I had made, the jacket was not ready and I wanted it for a dance featuring Herb Miller, who replicated his older brother Glenn’s wartime orchestra for a show in the Crystal Palace area.
I must have taken the Saturday off, as the jacket was ready and the dance was that night way back in 1982.
I arrived at the shop, the jacket was ready, I tried it on and it fitted perfectly.
The jacket was made from that distressed leather that was popular in the late 1970s and early 80s but Ken informed me it had not been distressed yet so would wear more naturally. Most jackets in this day were made after the leather had been distressed then patterns had been cut, so the wear was uneven. I mentioned it would look better with a little wear, the jacket was a mid brown all over and what happened next almost gave me a heart attack.
“Cross your arms across your chest” I was told, almost ordered! Then Ken attacked the creases with some rough sand paper making some wear points in these areas.
Well I had my jacket and it was that evening I debuted that first Aero A2. Lounging at the bar a young guy came up to me, I was 23, he about 19 asked, “Were did you get that old jacket?” I had not noticed that I was the only person wearing this type of jacket, all the other wartime enthusiasts war uniforms, mostly genuine from all services with quite a lot of veterans attending, though this was only the beginning of a growing 40s enthusiast era.
(Pic from 1983 Mail on Sunday)
1984. And so My Matchless called me back to Falcon Road, was it more head gaskets or a new ring for the magneto I cannot remember but as I headed south I thought I would look up Aero once more.
Immediately I spotted the sign, the large white sign with the colourful B24 still heading the shop front. I parked some way down the road and walked back up towards Aero at No67.
! There was the shop, but now unoccupied, I looked up at the Liberator and she looked slightly faded, the paint starting to peel in the summer sun.
I asked around the shopkeepers but all I could be told was that they had moved on, back to Scotland
Over the next few months I ambled around my favourite vintage clothing stores, Kings Road, Kensington Market, and with the films, Top Gun, Hannover Street and Raiders of the lost Ark, imported 40s and 50s American clothing was everywhere.
A garage in Kings Road Chelsea, once known as the Bluebird Garage had been redeveloped into a vintage clothing emporium, curiously, an old Ford Anglia from the 1960s was on display outside but it had been covered in concrete. I had to go in and have a look around, and what did I find? The thickest, toughest looking leather jacket I had ever seen, a red tartan lining. Years later I was to learn, this was a Highwayman, and it was made by Aero.
Falcon Road would never be the same again.
And what of Aero? 30+ years on, many well known stores selling new clothing with a retro look, in the same minimalistic, bare floor boarded and minimal lighted reminded me of the old Thrift Shop in Battersea. Aero of course, the premier leather jacket maker located in the Scottish Borders, suppliers to the world
Oh! And what of that A2 made by Ken Calder just sitting in my wardrobe, a slightly tighter fitting than back in 1982, . The memories of lost youth linger fondly, buried in the patina of the leather, those times will always be mine something no one can ever take away.
And so I had decided, the time had come for the jacket to move on, but where? Ebay? It had no labels to attain to the jackets provenance, there were no records who made this bar the maker and an almost defunct Yahoo group. There was only one true customer for this old war horse.
And so come October the 23rd 2012 I took the train to the boarders and headed for Galashiels.
30 years on, my jacket finally met it's maker
Photo by Holly Calder.
So if anyone ever asks me how to get a jacket to look 30 years old there is only one real answer. “Wear it for 30 years”
John
Last edited:
