World War Greatcoats

[earl]

I've been hauling around a great uncle's greatcoat for decades and think I'll actually wear it this winter for once. Am incapable of posting photos but was wondering if someone could clue me in on whether it's likely to be WWI or II vintage-either is possible. It's camel colored, mid-calf length and fits my 5'7 frame perfectly. 5 rows of buttons on each side. Buttons aren't metallic. It's quite heavy. Must be 10 pounds.

 

[EngProf]

I've been hauling around a great uncle's greatcoat for decades and think I'll actually wear it this winter for once. Am incapable of posting photos but was wondering if someone could clue me in on whether it's likely to be WWI or II vintage-either is possible. It's camel colored, mid-calf length and fits my 5'7 frame perfectly. 5 rows of buttons on each side. Buttons aren't metallic. It's quite heavy. Must be 10 pounds.

The fact that it's "camel-colored" makes it more likely that is a WWII Officer's Overcoat.
WWI coats were mostly a dark brownish green and WWII enlisted overcoats were dark brown.
Look at the neck, inside the pockets, and at the tail to see if there is a small white Quartermaster (QM) tag.
If you are lucky and one of those is there, it will have a description of the item and the contract date.
Late WWII coats had plastic buttons instead of brass to save valuable metal.

Was your great uncle an officer? If so, they often bought their coats from private sources, so it won't have an Army QM tag on it. However, sometimes private tailors would simply put "Regulation Army" somewhere on their civilian products.
I have several "camel-colored" WWII Officer's overcoats (short and long). They are really first-rate coats.

 

[earl]

Wore it today for the first time ever. Definitely will be great on cold blustery days. No tags exist though the coat in in great nearly new condition. Had 2 great uncles fight in WWII. One in Europe, 1 in the Pacific. Don't know the rank of the former, but the latter was an officer. Doubt he'd need that coat in the Pacific. Not sure which relative owned it.

 

[Seth Byrnes]

Look under the half lining on the inside, turn it upside down and inside out.

If it's WWII there will either be a tag, a faded/washed out tag, or a single line of stitching where the tag used to be.

If it's WWI it has more of a bell shape and black (or brown, by now) eagle buttons and has cuff adjustment.

Happy to ID with a photo if you share

 

[Peacoat]

I've been hauling around a great uncle's greatcoat for decades and think I'll actually wear it this winter for once. Am incapable of posting photos but was wondering if someone could clue me in on whether it's likely to be WWI or II vintage-either is possible. It's camel colored, mid-calf length and fits my 5'7 frame perfectly. 5 rows of buttons on each side. Buttons aren't metallic. It's quite heavy. Must be 10 pounds.

If the picture is on your hard drive, or you can take a picture of the coat and put it on your hard drive, it couldn't be simpler.

Just click on "Upload An Image" and you will be taken to your hard drive. Click twice on the image and it will appear in miniature under your message. Then click "Full image," and it will load wherever your cursor is. Simple.