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WW2 Marine Corps zippers and pockets

PaidInFull24

Familiar Face
Messages
96
Location
Oklahoma
Hi all,

I bought a Marine Corps type Alpha dress green uniform at a garage sale today. The man that I bought it from claimed that it was his uncle's from WW2. I believe his story because he also had his dad's 94th infantry Class A dress tunic to accompany (He didn't want to part with that one). The uniform that I bought is smooth wool with red and green Sargeant's ranks on both shoulders. There are no markings that I can find anywhere in the jacket, other than a small tag inside the collar (by the coat hanging tab) that says 36 and I think XL though it is hard to decipher due to fading. The material that the size is printed on the tag is almost identical fabric to the collar tag on my WW2 issue Navy pea coat. I tried the underarm trick on the jacket to find a quartermasters date, but didn't find one. The inside of the jacket is partly lined with a silken-type green material. To me it seems that it was a tailored officer's uniform because of the quality of the materials. The pants are the same color, but where I'm hung up is that they have a zip-fly and two back pockets. I have read in a couple of spots on the net that WW2 Marine uniforms only had button flys and no back pockets, but I didn't know if this pertained to tailored uniforms or if perhaps they started adding zippers and back pockets later in the war. The pants are also sized 32x31 with the marking N 8520 DV on the inside of the right pocket. Again, I could not find any markings to tell of maker or date. The inside of the pants are VERY similar to my USAAF class A pants in color of cotton material and pattern. Could someone please advise? Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Nick
 

PaidInFull24

Familiar Face
Messages
96
Location
Oklahoma
I should add that on the collar of the coat, there are stitch-lined cutout holes for the screw-back globe insignia to be attached. My main question is whether it is WW2 or later. Any help is great help! Thanks guys!

Regards,
Nick
 

PaidInFull24

Familiar Face
Messages
96
Location
Oklahoma
No not at all! it just takes me a bit to get them uploaded to imageshack and then get them posted onto here. They're coming.
 

Subject 18

New in Town
Messages
13
Location
New Hampshire
I can't really tell if it's WWII or not. I have a Vietnam War era pair and they look exactly the same. Check in the inside pocket for a tag, that could help also.
 
Last edited:

Teekay44

One of the Regulars
Messages
206
Location
Amish Hartland PA
It's post WWII. Korea era most likely. WWII ones were fully lined. They were sized differently. Like 5 or 4. They were stamped in the armpit area inside on coats
 

PaidInFull24

Familiar Face
Messages
96
Location
Oklahoma
Thanks Teekay,

Is there book or website where you got that information? Or just prior knowledge? I would like to pick up a book about WW2 U.S. military uniforms as this is where I have focused my collecting, but at times I have a hard time differentiating between war-era and post-war era. I was suspecting it was probably post war, as that seems to be my luck occasionally :) Would the specs that you described also pertain to tailor-made uniforms? I know that with WW2 Army uniforms, it is sometimes difficult to date because they were often made of higher quality materials and styles varied some. Could it be that this a tailor-made uniform and that's why it doesn't fit the quartermaster issued specs? Or were tailor-made uniforms also held to the same standards as the issued uniforms?
 

EmergencyIan

Practically Family
Messages
918
Location
New York, NY
Speaking to the sizing of WWII era Marine Corps, I have had the experience of trying to figure out what the heck size 2, 3, 4, 5, etc are when looking at ebay auctions. And, all of the WWII era Marine Corp clothing that I have seen is sized in this manner.


- Ian
 

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