I have one from this generation, they all have outstanding leather.
LA seems to be the center of the action eh? I'd like to hear your thoughts on that one please.Every thing was available in LA, easy reach. Where and Why? I have a theory on why.
Here's a question: what label was in the Wild One jacket?
Best match I found so far (not my jacket)
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And on a completely separate note, I can’t believe I never picked up on this but here’s the Durable pictured in the Tanaka century of leather design book. First generation jacket. I’ve never seen this back design. If someone has a picture of another one please post.
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Not the trademark Durable collar shape. And now that I'm looking at it again, it has snaps on that belt as well as a unique liner. Never seen that before either.Great collar shape too.
Not the trademark Durable collar shape. And now that I'm looking at it again, it has snaps on that belt as well as a unique liner. Never seen that before either.
Yep, both a very different collar shape and a belt with both snaps and buckle, when it's usually either or.
Also I can't tell if the buckle is blacked out (not unheard of in those days) or if it's just the lighting, but either way that makes it hard to tell if it's mitred or squared.
The hammered collar buttons are stunning.
More pieces to the puzzle…
Very few people have the vintage leather jacket knowledge that David Himel has plus he’s Canadian. I’m friendly with him so I reached out and asked his thoughts on the history of the Durable brand. He graciously entertained my queries. Here's what he had to say.
- The Canadian Durable were operating in Canada as far back as the ‘30s.
- The American Durable wasn't seen in the US until the late 40’s.
- He believes they were separate but related. He speculates that cousins (or relatives) migrated south to open in the states.
I'm not 100% sure if they operated at the same time.
Here’s the interesting part. Durable of Canada was at the very least in part private label and not manufacturers. He told me that he has jackets with the below pony label with the actual manufacturer name on it.
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Earlier in this thread I posted (US) Durable MC jackets with other manufacturer names in them and as such speculated they were private label. Among them Knopf but in particular "Genuine American Leather Sportswear" by American Sportswear Co. Note the black FQHH label.
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We've seen plenty of Durable MC jackets with just that label and no Durable label in them with OP's jacket as well as the ones pictured in the Lightning magazines among many others.
I did some digging and found another Genuine American jacket with the same black FQHH label.
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I'm now convinced of two things.
1) That's their FQHH label and all the Durables we see with only that label (no Durable label) were made by them.
2) Durable in US was also at least in part private label. That's why we see Durable jackets with other makers names as well as just leather tags with no Durable labels.
So were Durable CA and Durable US related, the same company or always separate? Who knows, the mystery remains. The fact that both were at least in part private label makes the connection pretty strong.
If they were one in the same and private label that would explain why we wouldn't see any Canadian hardware on those 50's MC jackets as we would if they were made in Canada.
Now the question becomes who made the other models?
Might be this one. A generic slider buckle used by many makers in the 40s and 50s.Buckle is squared and not brass.
You've seen old Durables with buttons? If so, would be great if you could post. Thank you.