The best leather nametag??

[B-17 Pilot]

. . .Greetings all - I have recently purchased 2 leather nametags to put on my A-2 jacket and I am displeased with both! While the service was great, they both are of a real light color leather. . .I want that golden-mid brown color. I know, I know I should just wait till they age! I got a tag from a guy named Jim Harley in Ohio which was the best I've ever seen. I just don't know where to reach him. Any opinions on a the best nametag supplier?

My best, Mike:cheers1:

 

[Mycroft]

Do you mean luggage tags, name tapes? Can you be more spasific or am I missing something?

 

[scotrace]

What about rubbing them often with olive oil or neatsfoot? They should darken nicely.

 

[zeus36]

Check with the top ($$) A-2 Repo outfits listed in this forum. I'll bet they'll make it any color and/or type of leather you want.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Welcome, B-17 Pilot...

...to the lounge (I missed your earlier posts). The suggestions you've already received are good ones, but if it were me I'd try my hand at mixing a custom leather dye to match your jacket(s). Another possibility might be to contact one of the custom patch-makers and see what they'd suggest. There are a bunch of good ones out there and I will see if I can dig up some links for you.

BTW, I'm just around the Beltway and up 270 from you so that I hope we have an opportunity to get acquainted. I'm planning to lead a contingent of Fedora Loungers to the Reading WWII weekend in June and I'm also a member of the Washington Art Deco Society.

So, I'm sure will shake hands sooner or later. -- ZF (aka Fred)

 

[nightandthecity]

I have had quite a few original name tags through my hands over the years, some mint. The colour varies a lot - some of them actually were a very light tan, so i don't think yours are "inauthentic" as such.

Anyway, if you want them darker I would just darken them!..... with leather dye if you want to keep them mint, or with things like cold tea, coffee, and mud if you want to age them as well.

One well known jacket repro maker in his early days used to soak his cloth blood chits in tea and then put them under the grill! I never tried it myself....!!

 

[MikeyB17]

Mine was an Aero which was too pale for my tastes, although they claim it's an authentic colour. I soaked mine for a couple of days in a mixture of cold tea and soy sauce and anything else dark I could find (there's some Worcester sauce in there as well I think). I then rubbed in some brown shoe cream followed by brown shoe polish, and I'm quite pleased with the result. Here it is:-

MB-17

 

[Rinterstate]

I've have a I got from US Authenic that matches the color pretty close I think. I got another A-2 and decided to get a nametag from Garcia aviation and wasn't happy with it, almost a cream color. I tried the tea and coffee soaking but still didn't improve it much so i purchased another from US authenic. Here is a picture of my first one what do you guys think about the color?

 

[Rinterstate]

Sorry another try.

 

[Baggers]

Another method that no one has mentioned yet is to simply leave the tag outside in bright sunlight for a day or two. I've darkened several small leather items this way, and it works to varying degrees depending on the leather itself. While this really works best if one lives in a hot, sunny clime, it's a more "natural" process than dying the leather with various mixtures.

I'd at least give it a try before moving on to artificial methods.

Cheers!

 

[Zemke Fan]

Well, Mikey, at least the clothes moths...

Mine was an Aero which was too pale for my tastes, although they claim it's an authentic colour. I soaked mine for a couple of days in a mixture of cold tea and soy sauce and anything else dark I could find (there's some Worcester sauce in there as well I think).

...will leave the REST of you jacket alone!

 

[PADDY]

Nametags

This one was by ELC (Eastmans). Nice and chunky, I vintaged it down with bootpolish, wired wool and wax, and then buffed it back up again. Best to do it all BEFORE it gets stitched on, means you can rum black boot polish onto the edging, and then buff it up too and work the leather back and forth in your hands.

 

[Mycroft]

Linseed oil works well form what I hear. Here is a how-to guide: http://www.leatherworldtech.com/LeatherDyeing.aspx

 

[MikeyB17]

...will leave the REST of you jacket alone!

No Chinese moths round here AFAIK!