Dating Pre-WWII Pea Coats

[grukes]

Hi there....new member here. I've been collecting men's vintage for 15 years now, and JUST came across this forum. I love it! I have a quick question for all you vintage kings and queens out there. Does anyone know how to date a USN Pea Coat pre WWII? Besides the 13-star buttons? I picked this pea coat up a year ago at an estate sale. Oldest pea coat I have ever found by far. It has blue flannel lining (inside pockets, body, arm sleeves are satin). Unfortunately no tags remain on the coat. I am guessing this is WWI or just post WWI. Is there a way to tell the difference between a WWI, 1920's, and 1930's pea coat? Many thanks!

http://www.imagehostplus.com/v2/usr/180/0221273885477086.jpg

http://www.imagehostplus.com/v2/usr/180/0271273885487976.jpg

 

[Peacoat]

You are on your own on this one. Yes, there are differences in turn of the century peacoats and the pre WWII peacoat. I have noticed some of the differences, but have never been able to definitively distinguish between them.

I guess my comment would be that after 70 years we are unlikely to be able to determine the provenance of these coats other than to say it is "pre WWII." With that I have to be satisfied.

I had a chance to buy a 1932 peacoat on ebay 5 or 6 years ago for a nominal sum. I contacted the seller and determined it had been her grandfather's peacoat and was in excellent condition. It was my size. I wanted that peacoat.

I explained to the seller, who was new to ebay, the intrinsic value of the coat and that it was springtime and it was unlikely that it would attract many bidders. I told her what I would be able to buy it for, and that the price would be a steal. My advice to her was to remove it from the listing and save it as a family heirloom. If in the future she still wanted to sell it, to contact me and I would give her a fair price--about 10 times what I could have bought it for at the time. Unfortunately, as it turns out, she took my advice.

I contacted her every year or so after that, but evidently she decided not to sell. Oh well.

Every day I look in my closet and that peacoat isn't there. I wish now I had done things differently. I guess it is true that no good deed goes unpunished.

 

[grukes]

From what I have learned, eventually you are always awarded for a good deed done. Just have to be patient I guess! I could have used you in the late 90's when I was first getting started. I got taken advantage of by many vintage dealers and Japanese on Ebay. I'm still learning things more than a decade later. That's why this pea coat has always been a mystery, there's just no information out there on these.

I appreciate the post! Last night I got impatient waiting to be activated and post a thread, and I actually listed the coat on Ebay if nothing more than to find out more information on it (that and the fact I will never be able to fit into this coat and it's just collecting dust in my closet right now). The response so far has been good, and I have actually been offered $1000 for the coat to end the auction early. I told him I would think about it. I really have NO IDEA what it is worth.

 

[WolfeMan]

Welcome to the lounge! Very nice coat, sorry i can't help you with the dating. If Peacoat can't i'm not sure you will have much luck on here.

Wolfe

 

[Peacoat]

As this particular thread now has a cite in Google, I thought I would give a link to the vintage peacoat dating thread that is a sticky at the top of the Outerwear section. I would have edited it and added to my earlier post, but evidently the time for editing a post has now passed. If you found this thread by a search engine, this is the link you will want for dating the vintage coats back to WWII. Before that, the history hasn't yet been written.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=37699