A2 jacket with Conmar zipper is this military or civilian

[Zoltan]

Spotted this on Ebay recently, never seen this type before. Would appreciate any information.

 

[Edward]

I would think civilian, post-war. The romanticised patriotic / propaganda image of the heroic pilot led to a civilian fashion for A2ish jackets and flying-style jackets in general in the US in the post-war years. You'll find examples like this from really the late 40s onwards. Particular features of civilian jackets on this one include the studs on the windflap, the liner (which, if original, looks G1 rather than a WW2 era A2), and the zipper (again, if original, though from what I can see here of the stitching it looks original to the jacket). Most notably, the pockets are not A2 patch pockets, but cut into the actual front panels of the jacket itself, presumably with pocket-bags sewn in between shell and liner, and the flap of course sewn onto the shell. This was a common feature on a lot of pilot-style post-War civilian jackets I've seen as well.

I'll be interested to see how the real experts date it, though I'd put it somewhere in the 1945-1965 frame as a best guess based on photos.

 

[Zoltan]

I would think civilian, post-war. The romanticised patriotic / propaganda image of the heroic pilot led to a civilian fashion for A2ish jackets and flying-style jackets in general in the US in the post-war years. You'll find examples like this from really the late 40s onwards. Particular features of civilian jackets on this one include the studs on the windflap, the liner (which, if original, looks G1 rather than a WW2 era A2), and the zipper (again, if original, though from what I can see here of the stitching it looks original to the jacket). Most notably, the pockets are not A2 patch pockets, but cut into the actual front panels of the jacket itself, presumably with pocket-bags sewn in between shell and liner, and the flap of course sewn onto the shell. This was a common feature on a lot of pilot-style post-War civilian jackets I've seen as well.

I'll be interested to see how the real experts date it, though I'd put it somewhere in the 1945-1965 frame as a best guess based on photos.

Wow, thank you for the info.