Vintage FQHH Rich-Sher cross-zip jacket

[tmitchell59]

Do you mean you'd just leave the cuffs as-is since they're not visible? They are fairly tattered but I guess I could live with that for a while and see if it bugs me down the road

I have covered inner sleeve cuffs due to heavy wear. You typically don't see it and it is annoying so I have covered it.

I imagined you had a button down shirt with Tie on. The "gentleman" rider look!

 

[Gamma68]

All done with leather dressing. The Peacards/Lexol combo has really brought the leather back to life. I doubt it had ever received anything over the past 60 or so years. No more crispy areas. Feeling nice and supple everywhere with some return of color--particularly on the back of the sleeves and at the back panel.

This is one of my best-fitting jackets, even under a flannel shirt. It feels fabulous to wear and is just about ready for fall. I'll probably get the torn cuff lining taken care of at some point before then.

It also has a nice vintage horsehide scent and I really like the patina on the snaps. Really pleased with this purchase.

 

[JMax]

It looks great man. You should be very pleased!

 

[Monitor]

All done with leather dressing. The Peacards/Lexol combo has really brought the leather back to life. I doubt it had ever received anything over the past 60 or so years. No more crispy areas. Feeling nice and supple everywhere with some return of color--particularly on the back of the sleeves and at the back panel.

This is one of my best-fitting jackets, even under a flannel shirt. It feels fabulous to wear and is just about ready for fall. I'll probably get the torn cuff lining taken care of at some point before then.

It also has a nice vintage horsehide scent and I really like the patina on the snaps. Really pleased with this purchase.
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Perfect in every possible way! And yep, looks like it's been worn for just a couple of years and sparingly so. Gem of a cross zip!

 

[Gamma68]

Perfect in every possible way! And yep, looks like it's been worn for just a couple of years and sparingly so. Gem of a cross zip!

It's definitely been worn over the years, but not abused. The lining wear reflects this. Lots of great graining.

The seller tells me the jacket came from the estate of an older gentleman in Arizona who was the original owner. He no longer rides, so he no longer needed the jacket. It has found a good home.

 

[nick123]

It's definitely been worn over the years, but not abused. The lining wear reflects this. Lots of great graining.

The seller tells me the jacket came from the estate of an older gentleman in Arizona who was the original owner. He no longer rides, so he no longer needed the jacket. It has found a good home.

A damn good home. A perfect home.

 

[Monitor]

It's definitely been worn over the years, but not abused. The lining wear reflects this. Lots of great graining.

The seller tells me the jacket came from the estate of an older gentleman in Arizona who was the original owner. He no longer rides, so he no longer needed the jacket. It has found a good home.

Oh, which reminds me! Did the elastic tape holding the shoulder gussets tucked inside snap or lose some of the elasticity (which would make sense as it's quite an old jacket)? I can see they've popped out a bit. Often seen on true vtg jackets but I was just wondering.

 

[Gamma68]

Oh, which reminds me! Did the elastic tape holding the shoulder gussets tucked inside snap or lose some of the elasticity (which would make sense as it's quite an old jacket)? I can see they've popped out a bit. Often seen on true vtg jackets but I was just wondering.

I'm not exactly sure how to tell but the left shoulder gusset feels like there's some resistance. I don't feel that in the right shoulder gusset. I see this as something minor.

 

[Monitor]

I'm not exactly sure how to tell but the left shoulder gusset feels like there's some resistance. I don't feel that in the right shoulder gusset. I see this as something minor.

You should be able to feel the band through the lining, going horizontally across the back. It's a relatively easy fix even if you ever decide to go thru with it.

 

[Gamma68]

You should be able to feel the band through the lining, going horizontally across the back. It's a relatively easy fix even if you ever decide to go thru with it.

It's a thicker quilted lining but I'll check it out.

 

[Gamma68]

Updating this thread because I've made a major discovery.

"Rich-Sher" jackets were made by the Novelty Sportswear Manufacturing Company. Almost all the Rich-Sher jacket labels have "NS" in the logo, either in a crest or under a stylized arch.

I found this reference in a 1957 newspaper ad placed in the Idaho State Journal.

Using the RN Database, I learned that Novelty Sportswear Mfg. was located at 314 St. Charles, St. Louis, Mo. This makes sense to me because I thought the arch in the later Rich-Sher tags might depict the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

The first firm "Novelty Sportswear" company reference I found on newspapers.com is a small "help wanted" ad for a leather cutter placed in April 1942. There are lots of subsequent ads throughout the 1940s seeking button-sewers, pocket makers, machine operators, etc. for leather jackets.

In Jan. 1945, the company bought a multistory building on 4th street in St. Louis. Company owners were Oscar Sher, Aaron Brodkin and Harry Reichmann. Novelty occupied the 3rd and 4th floors of the seven-story building.

Lots of "help-wanted" ads continue through the early 1950s for leather and cloth jackets. Ads for leather workers slowed between 1955-1958 and increased for cloth workers. The last ad seeking a leather worker is from July 1958. Thereafter, the company seems to have suspended leather work, since almost all help-wanted ads were for cloth workers.

This changed in early 1970 when the company began placing a few ads again for leather cutters.

The company seems to have folded sometime in 1979. The last help-wanted ad is for a presser in March 1979.

So it appears Novelty Sportswear existed from about 1942-1979, and my leather Rich-Sher cross-zip was made sometime before about 1958.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Nice detective work and damn that dressing treatment really brought the jacket back to life!

 

[Gamma68]

Nice detective work and damn that dressing treatment really brought the jacket back to life!

Thanks, since that post about the dressing treatment last summer, I followed up with some Vaseline in the fall. The leather became even more dark and supple. It seemed to really take to the Pecards/Vaseline combo treatment.

 

[tmitchell59]

Updating this thread because I've made a major discovery.

"Rich-Sher" jackets were made by the Novelty Sportswear Manufacturing Company. Almost all the Rich-Sher jacket labels have "NS" in the logo, either in a crest or under a stylized arch.

I found this reference in a 1957 newspaper ad placed in the Idaho State Journal.

Using the RN Database, I learned that Novelty Sportswear Mfg. was located at 314 St. Charles, St. Louis, Mo. This makes sense to me because I thought the arch in the later Rich-Sher tags might depict the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

The first firm "Novelty Sportswear" company reference I found on newspapers.com is a small "help wanted" ad for a leather cutter placed in April 1942. There are lots of subsequent ads throughout the 1940s seeking button-sewers, pocket makers, machine operators, etc. for leather jackets.

In Jan. 1945, the company bought a multistory building on 4th street in St. Louis. Company owners were Oscar Sher, Aaron Brodkin and Harry Reichmann. Novelty occupied the 3rd and 4th floors of the seven-story building.

Lots of "help-wanted" ads continue through the early 1950s for leather and cloth jackets. Ads for leather workers slowed between 1955-1958 and increased for cloth workers. The last ad seeking a leather worker is from July 1958. Thereafter, the company seems to have suspended leather work, since almost all help-wanted ads were for cloth workers.

This changed in early 1970 when the company began placing a few ads again for leather cutters.

The company seems to have folded sometime in 1979. The last help-wanted ad is for a presser in March 1979.

So it appears Novelty Sportswear existed from about 1942-1979, and my leather Rich-Sher cross-zip was made sometime before about 1958.

Great Work! Now I wonder if they used other labels in their jackets or made jackets for other labels?