Guide to Vintage Leather Jackets

[jchance]

Ralphs-Pugh, which is sometimes stated on the label.


Albert Richard / Fried Ostermann, also look for the following side strap buckle.



60s-70s Fidelity, note the vertical-stitching quilted lining. The giveaway is actually the metal chain.

 

[jchance]

All Rough Wear in this post:



This label is sometimes hanging like a ribbon.







Found on a wool jacket:

 

[jeo]

Guide Master Wolf, also look for trianglular stitching above belt loop. If it has French seams everywhere, it’s likely Edgo/Kit Karson.
View attachment 739766
View attachment 739787

These labels aren’t exclusive to Wolf.

And here’s a double whammy. An Admiral Byrd label with a manufacturer name on the label (Borman Sheep Lined Coat Co.) with the same label. Confirming there were multiple makers for the Byrd jackets.

 

[jchance]

These labels aren’t exclusive to Wolf.

View attachment 739838 View attachment 739839

And here’s a double whammy. An Admiral Byrd label with a manufacturer name on the label (Borman Sheep Lined Coat Co.) with the same label. Confirming there were multiple makers for the Byrd jackets.

View attachment 739840

Wolf is from Boston. Note that Knopf is from Boston and uses the same horse label as Wolf. Your Lampelt label also says Boston and uses the same horse label as Wolf.

Ram-Jack uses a different horse label but uses the same pocket stitching construction as Wolf. Ram-Jack’s horse label also appears on Admiral Byrd’s jackets.

My theory is that Wolf is the maker of this horse label and the Ram-Jack’s horse label. They are one of the same. Wolf is the mastermind behind Ram-Jack, Knopf, Lampelt, and some of the Admiral Byrd jackets that use these two distinctive horse labels.

 

[jeo]

Wolf is from Boston. Note that Knopf is from Boston and uses the same horse label as Wolf. Your Lampelt label also says Boston and uses the same horse label as Wolf.

Ram-Jack uses a different horse label but uses the same pocket stitching construction as Wolf. Ram-Jack’s horse label also appears on Admiral Byrd’s jackets.

My theory is that Wolf is the maker of this horse label and the Ram-Jack’s horse label. They are one of the same. Wolf is the mastermind behind Ram-Jack, Knopf, Lampelt, and some of the Admiral Byrd jackets that use these two distinctive horse labels.

I’m not sure what you mean when you say that Wolf was the mastermind behind Knopf and others, but if you mean that they made Knopf jackets, it’s another wild baseless theory that’s wrong.

Knopf was a well known maker, separate from Wolf. This has been well established. They are in directories, newspapers ads etc as a manufacturer. Here’s an ad for them as a manufacturer.

Lamplet was a manufacturer too, says it right on the label…

The fact that a few Massachusetts area makers use the same label just means that there was someone locally there, providing all these makers with the labels. There are many examples of generic leather labels that many different manufacturers used. This is one of them.

Same with the older horsehide label. Like I mentioned before, one of my Durables has that leather label. No connection to Wolf whatsoever. A ton of other makers used this generic horse label as well.

 

[jchance]

To keep cost low, you should also learn to how to DIY small repair jobs:

Do try this at home: leather jacket repair tips

Leather jacket repairs can be costly and can sometimes even exceed the jacket's value. Luckily some fixes are easy to do yourself. Let's share our experiences, tips and tricks. Busted auto lock slider When a zipperslider moves up or down on its own while wearing the jacket, the auto lock pin...

www.thefedoralounge.com

What condition of a vintage leather jacket should you look for? As mint or close to mint as you can get it, at a price you can afford. You don’t want it to have any major problems, unless you know what you’re doing or have a source that knows what s/he is doing.

Quoting B-Man2 from VLJ:
“Restoring a vintage jacket is only done cheaply if YOU have the ability to do the work. Otherwise you can expect to spend almost as much, or more than you paid for the jacket . Now you’ve all heard me use this analogy before . Restoring a vintage jacket is like stepping into the center of a large dark puddle of water. You never know how deep that puddle is going to be .. until you’re standing in the middle of it. Same with a jacket: For example I purchased a vintage Pritzker G-1 that I thought would just require new knits . By the time the restoration was completed it required period NOS knits, which were sewn in using the same original stitch holes, a NOS period blackened Talon zipper, new pre aged mouton collar, new elastic retraction straps for the back vents, which required the lining to be taken apart and restitched and some top notch leather restoration . Now the jacket looks like it was issued yesterday, but it almost broke the bank to bring it back into that condition. So my advice is if you want to restore a vintage jacket, have plan for what you want to do and a budget, because it can get expensive.”

SEAMSTRESS Prices

Gentlemen, just for my own interest and because my seamstress is constantly raising her prices i'd be intrested in the money you have to invest for changes/repairs on your stuff. I'm aware that a direct "comparison" would be difficult coz there is a lot of factors that possibly influence...

www.vintageleatherjackets.org

 

[TartuWolf]

Despite not being interested in vintage I greatly appreciate you taking the time and putting the effort into gathering all this information in one place. Fantastic contribution to the forum. Should be pinned as an essential TFL thread.

 

[Professor100]

Despite not being interested in vintage I greatly appreciate you taking the time and putting the effort into gathering all this information in one place. Fantastic contribution to the forum. Should be pinned as an essential TFL thread.

Seriously, that's one of the benefits of this forum: actual scholarship. Wether you're interested in the culture and history of clothing or the history of businesses or any number of areas, this information is very useful. And cool. i mean that sincerely.

 

[jchance]

Thanks for the kind words. I was going to delete this “guide” a few days ago, too, but I can no longer edit the OP or my posts after a week. Just 6 days late. I had other “guides” in mind but I’ve since lost interest in writing them.

 

[photo2u]

I had other “guides” in mind but I’ve since lost interest in writing them.

Sad to read it. You did an excellent job that many have benefited. I thank you for taking and effort to create this informative guides.

 

[baldipino]

Thank you for such an exhaustive and researched piece...it truly is appreciated!

 

[Bluechel]

Very helpful and very important for many (most?) of us!