Show Me Your Jacket Accoutrements

[nick123]

Hi, did you mean my bits n pieces Edward? i posted the pics like this so really people could see the pullers etc and didnt want to bore members with yet another view of a Highwayman or my old A2 jacket.

But maybe the bike jacket deserves a viewing.
I bought this old 1950s-60s ket jacket purely as a means to display some old biker badges and patches etc.
The jacket is not really wearable as the zip has teeth missing on pockets and main zip in more than one place, the lining is a satin gold cloth but not nylon but the leather facing is so fragile that whenever I pin another badge to the jacket it sometimes simply pulls through.
I thought this a better way to display pin badges rather than in a display case, most are from the era 1960-70s when this jacket would have been worn, it hangs on a hanger in my garage so anyone can view it.

The Chinese coins seem a great idea for an AVG jacket. I got the idea for my French coins from a guy who had a bunch of Japanese coins on his A2, but I would not have the bullet on a jacket if I was using an air service as they like to use any excuse to show that they have the power to refuse you to fly and may class it as ammunition.
All these do make a change from the usual rescue whistles that may hit you on the chin if you need to run wearing your jacket

Keep em coming now.

Oh brother that's cool. Btw that's cool.

 

[Big J]

Just bought some of those dice from eBay, but let's see if I can't do something better than the repro dog-tag chain. They have a nasty tendency to be very soft metal, and one sharp pull would be enough to pull one end through the clasp, and leave my dice in my hand.

 

[nick123]

Just bought some of those dice from eBay, but let's see if I can't do something better than the repro dog-tag chain. They have a nasty tendency to be very soft metal, and one sharp pull would be enough to pull one end through the clasp, and leave my dice in my hand.

That's my concern too. There's a lot of cheap stuff out there. But I've found some wonderful sites with only a few minutes of searching and from mention here. Some of the militaria sites have some really cool original pins from WWII (with a mix of expensive and well priced). And I'm also impressed with some of the genuine Native American jewelry.

I've found if you google "pendant" rather than "zipper pull", it yields way better results.

I ran into this for all of you nylon junkies:
http://www.flyingtigerantiques.com/...Code=fta&Product_Code=afb50010&Category_Code=

 

[Big J]

That's my concern too. There's a lot of cheap stuff out there. But I've found some wonderful sites with only a few minutes of searching and from mention here. Some of the militaria sites have some really cool original pins from WWII (with a mix of expensive and well priced). And I'm also impressed with some of the genuine Native American jewelry.

I've found if you google "pendant" rather than "zipper pull", it yields way better results.

I ran into this for all of you nylon junkies:
http://www.flyingtigerantiques.com/...Code=fta&Product_Code=afb50010&Category_Code=

Thanks for the tip!

 

[dh66]

Just bought some of those dice from eBay, but let's see if I can't do something better than the repro dog-tag chain. They have a nasty tendency to be very soft metal, and one sharp pull would be enough to pull one end through the clasp, and leave my dice in my hand.

Yes...yes they do. Or worse, leave the dice somewhere on the go, and when you reach to zip...they're just not there. Glad I used plain old cheap dice, not cool expensive vintage ones.

Maybe have a look a page or two back at the way Hoosier Daddy used a piece of leather threaded through the hole in the dice.

 

[Big J]

Yes...yes they do. Or worse, leave the dice somewhere on the go, and when you reach to zip...they're just not there. Glad I used plain old cheap dice, not cool expensive vintage ones.

Maybe have a look a page or two back at the way Hoosier Daddy used a piece of leather threaded through the hole in the dice.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Leather; the solution to all life's problems.

 

[dh66]

..... Leather; the solution to all life's problems.

I thought that was beer..

 

[Big J]

I thought that was beer..

Not with my BMI.

 

[IXL]

I would love to have one of those little Esso Man key chains, like on Rocketeer's jacket. I've tried, with no success, to find one that isn't located in the U.K. It would look good on one of my jackets as part of my Oklahoma Cowboy/British Rocker combination look. It's an acquired taste......

 

[bn1966]

The Esso men & Ladies are fantastic, I've got one on my scooter keys and another that I wear around my neck on a piece of leather

 

[rocketeer]

I would love to have one of those little Esso Man key chains, like on Rocketeer's jacket. I've tried, with no success, to find one that isn't located in the U.K. It would look good on one of my jackets as part of my Oklahoma Cowboy/British Rocker combination look. It's an acquired taste......

They usually sell for around £10-15 at swap meet/autojumbles. I think I have just sold my last spare one. They do differ in appearance too. The continental European Esso Man appears to be a bit more smiley than the British version, also the earlier ones are slightly more rubbery and slightly larger than the 1960s versions. The most popular version is the hard plastic British 1960s piece. France also do a female version that matches the male except she has a bow in her 'hair'(old and newer versions.
There are also some replica's made in Japan but beware, the ones I have seen tend to be larger than the originals.
I know it sounds a lot but £10-15 is only the price of a few beers, if I wanted one I'd buy the first BIN I saw.

Just seen the above post(Bn1966). That is the British version but appears to be missing the 'Esso' legend from the chest

Cheers, J.

 

[Stand By]

This is my Aero C3:




I added a perfect reproduction wool patch of the 364th BS squadron (made by "6th of June") which is a squadron I've been partial to for some time as, originally, I felt that it looked like Star, my faithful old dog (who sadly passed away two weeks ago aged 14 1/2 ) - and the squadron also hailed from nearby Northampton, which was my old stomping ground before I came out here - and I paid their war memorial a visit recently too. They were an outstanding squadron in an equally oustanding bomb group.
The patch was given a perfect border by the folks at Aero (now at AL) too, as the patch had unfinished edges.

I wanted to paint on this C3, but sheepskin can be very crinkly and isn't a good base for that (as I previously discovered on my ELC C3!) and I had a piece of russet HH that was once kindly given to me by Gary at ELC and I asked for it to be sewn on a front panel - so I could add "Flak Magnet" (a humorous jab at my girlfriend at the light to moderate flak I can often catch around our house, even on clear days and when none is forecast!), painted in a nice 1940s font in acrylics and D-Mo is my nick-name from her and her family, so I made the initials like USAAF lettering and used the 1943 "star and bar" as a hyphen.
There's space to add something else, but I never have, fearing that it'd look "over-done".

Finally I added Star's old dog licences for the zip pullers - and her old ID tag and rabies vaccination tag (expired) is the main zip puller. Real dog tags !

 

[IXL]

They usually sell for around £10-15 at swap meet/autojumbles. I think I have just sold my last spare one. They do differ in appearance too. The continental European Esso Man appears to be a bit more smiley than the British version, also the earlier ones are slightly more rubbery and slightly larger than the 1960s versions. The most popular version is the hard plastic British 1960s piece. France also do a female version that matches the male except she has a bow in her 'hair'(old and newer versions.
There are also some replica's made in Japan but beware, the ones I have seen tend to be larger than the originals.
I know it sounds a lot but £10-15 is only the price of a few beers, if I wanted one I'd buy the first BIN I saw.

Just seen the above post(Bn1966). That is the British version but appears to be missing the 'Esso' legend from the chest

Cheers, J.

From looking at pictures of the Esso key chains in several of my books, I've noticed several variations, but didn't realize they were local to different countries or regions. At this point I think I'd be happy with just about any of them: you guys in the U.K./Europe get all the good stuff!

 

[nick123]

This is my Aero C3:

View attachment 18535 View attachment 18537 View attachment 18536


I added a perfect reproduction wool patch of the 364th BS squadron (made by "6th of June") which is a squadron I've been partial to for some time as, originally, I felt that it looked like Star, my faithful old dog (who sadly passed away two weeks ago aged 14 1/2 ) - and the squadron also hailed from nearby Northampton, which was my old stomping ground before I came out here - and I paid their war memorial a visit recently too. They were an outstanding squadron in an equally oustanding bomb group.
The patch was given a perfect border by the folks at Aero (now at AL) too, as the patch had unfinished edges.

I wanted to paint on this C3, but sheepskin can be very crinkly and isn't a good base for that (as I previously discovered on my ELC C3!) and I had a piece of russet HH that was once kindly given to me by Gary at ELC and I asked for it to be sewn on a front panel - so I could add "Flak Magnet" (a humorous jab at my girlfriend at the light to moderate flak I can often catch around our house, even on clear days and when none is forecast!), painted in a nice 1940s font in acrylics and D-Mo is my nick-name from her and her family, so I made the initials like USAAF lettering and used the 1943 "star and bar" as a hyphen.
There's space to add something else, but I never have, fearing that it'd look "over-done".

Finally I added Star's old dog licences for the zip pullers - and her old ID tag and rabies vaccination tag (expired) is the main zip puller. Real dog tags !

Sorry to hear about your loss Stand By. I know how tough that can be.

 

[Stand By]

Thanks Nick - sincerely. Yeah, it's been a sad old fortnight … she was my best pal. Thanks man.

 

[bn1966]

Sorry to hear about your Pal 'Stand By', the loss of a hound is a very hard thing. They walk with us for such a short time.

 

[rocketeer]

This is my Aero C3:

View attachment 18535 View attachment 18537 View attachment 18536

Finally I added Star's old dog licences for the zip pullers - and her old ID tag and rabies vaccination tag (expired) is the main zip puller. Real dog tags !

A great practical idea for a memory and fits perfect in this topic

 

[Stand By]

And this is my Aero ANJ-3:
When I first bought this, I was chiefly inspired by an original ANJ-3 that had been briefly on display at LAX airport and I wanted one very similar.
My girlfriemd and I had recently adopted a stray dog (called "Wonka" by the shelter) from Texas and I thought that it'd be nice to make the jacket a tribute to that somehow - and then all the other pets we have/had together !

So I added a leather Texas patch for that - plus an unofficial version of the XV AF patch and a name tag for myself - which were expertly made and "aged" by Roberto Bandecca.
I had Wonka's six-digit ID shelter number at the shelter stenciled into the lining of the jacket - with an 0- prefix as per the originals...
He only came with a rabies vaccination tag, so I used that as the zip puller - and had another made in brass with his old name on it as though he'd had one - and we then changed his name to Bo when he arrived.

Then I painted on the bomb markers - for the pets! I used acrylics for this and copied a design from an A2 in the book "Art of the Flight Jacket".
And over time we also rescued a parrot (symbolised by the decoy duck) and 2 chihuauas who are brothers (hence they're smaller) and, late last year, an old dachshund from Texas (so he's a small bomb too) who was abandoned and picked up as a stray.
So we've rescued 4 dogs from Texas so far - the last one joining the family about 4 weeks ago, so I added the latest bomb marker for her at the weekend. She was another stray (like the others) and "the skinniest dog we've ever seen who wasn't dead" so said the shelter - and they were right! She's looking much finer these days ...

As the jacket was a jacket design solely from 1943, I added a lovely "Spirit of '43" sterling silver/enamel sweetheart pin from the same year and placed it under the pocket flap - for protection.
And in the pen slot in the other pocket, I have a nice old 1940's mechanical pencil (so no ink leaks!) for Hamm's Beer - I love the 1940s font set on the pearl body.

And lastly, in case anyone might disbelieve that we have all these pets, my girlfriend took a photo a few weeks ago - of me feeding everyone ... there are 8 dogs in this shot!

[

 

[nick123]

I have an idea for your next jacket. How about getting that shot painted? A nice nod to this:


"Snack Time"

 

[Monitor]

And lastly, in case anyone might disbelieve that we have all these pets, my girlfriend took a photo a few weeks ago - of me feeding everyone ... there are 8 dogs in this shot!

View attachment 18566 [

...I can't even handle one dog!