Why tiny pockets on Woolrich hunting coat?

[Daoud]

I have a Woolrich plaid hunting coat which is pretty elderly but in great shape- I call it my "kill the wabbit" coat, although I don't as a rule kill wabbits. ANYWAY, ever since I got it I have been wondering about the pockets. It has the usual "game pocket" in back, with a buttoned flap on either side, two fairly large flapped pockets on the lower front, two handwarmer pockets(opening into the inside lining) and two chest pockets. The chest pocket on the left is not large, but big enough for a pack of smokes or a couple Zagnut bars or something- but the right side chest pocket is TINY. I can't figure out why Woolrich would make the pocket so small- there has to be a reason. It's about the right size for a pocket watch, but I've never seen a watch pocket on a hunting coat......anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[matrioshka]

Compass perhaps? That, or a match case.

M

 

[DC3]

Wabbit Tags.Sorry I couldn't resist. A picture would be great but matches for the smokes might be a reason.

 

[Daoud]

Thought about a compass, but it's too small for just about any compass I've seen. Definitely would hold one of the old small kitchen match boxes, or a match safe, or a Zippo for that matter. Or, indeed, wabbit tags!

 

[Edward]

I was thinking coin pocket (along the lines of the found on the classic Perfecto design motorcycle jacket), but matches are more likely to be useful on a hunting trip... :eusa_doh:

 

[OneEyeMan]

Shotgun shells??
Lenny

 

[nobodyspecial]

Small jacket and shirt pockets made me nuts. I've no idea why some jackets, modern or vintage, have them. Some hunters used very small compasses, the one by Marbles Arms comes to mind. Just a possibility.

 

[Daoud]

Puzzling especially because most American garments from the first part of the 20th Century generally have capacious pockets......I believe the compass idea is a good possibility. I'd forgotten about those little Marbles compasses- look like toys. Or a signal whistle- you always used to see those marketed as an indispensable item for every outdoorsman. Woolrich might even have used the small pocket as a selling point- "Our Exclusive New Pocket For Compass or Whistle!"

 

[bburtner@moran]

Tiny Pocket

My grandfather when deer hunting,always kept the "Marbles" waterproof match case in that pocket...

 

[Edward]

Just a thought, the generic design doesn't predate the ubiquity of the wrist watch, does it?

 

[bburtner@moran]

Small Pocket

I don`t think a pocket watch was carried in that small pocket,when that Woolrich coat was made a pocket watch was a mans pride and joy.They were carried in a vest or pants pocket.

 

[pipvh]

Duck call, maybe?

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Maybe you should shoot off an email to Woolrich, and see if they know!

 

[Daoud]

Well, as far as saying "when the Woolrich coat was produced....." I dunno- they seem to have been in production for a LONG time and are still being produced, albeit with bigger pockets......certainly a pocket watch wouldn't be very accessible under multiple layers of wool and might well be carried in an outer pocket- but more than likely wouldn't be carried into the woods at all I wouldn't think.

The pocket is too small for a duck call.

Perhaps there might be someone at Woolrich who could answer this question, but unfortunately I don't speak Chinese, hee hee!

 

[rgraham]

Any chance of taking a pic so we can see just exactly what this mystery pocket looks like?

 

[Peacoat]

Perhaps the small pocket is a ticket (train) pocket. I know our foxhunting coats have a small ticket pocket, a holdover from our English friends who would ride the train to meet up with their horse for the day at the hunt in the English countryside.

I believe I remember that the guy who started Woolrich had come over from England and settled in Pennsylvania where he started making woolen goods. Seems to me that the railroads were being built on a fairly large scale in Pennsylvania by the mid 1800s.

So, for what it's worth, I'm saying the small pocket is a ticket pocket.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Perhaps there might be someone at Woolrich who could answer this question, but unfortunately I don't speak Chinese, hee hee!

Hey! Woolrich, is actually a small town, near Lock Haven. Right in the heart of Central Pennsylvania.

The company "operates one of the oldest, continuous running woolen mills in the country. Although we manufacture many of our garments (or components) overseas."

(So you're probably right!)

Where exactly is the pocket located? I think Peacoat may be right. It could be a ticket pocket.

 

[Atticus Finch]

I'm still not sure as to the size of the pocket in question, but many old hunting coats that I've seen have small pockets on the chest designed to hold the hunter's hunting license. The idea was to provide for easy access when Mr. Wildlife Officer stopped by to check the hunter.

AF

 

[Daoud]

Hey! Woolrich, is actually a small town, near Lock Haven. Right in the heart of Central Pennsylvania.

The company "operates one of the oldest, continuous running woolen mills in the country. Although we manufacture many of our garments (or components) overseas."

(So you're probably right!)

Where exactly is the pocket located? I think Peacoat may be right. It could be a ticket pocket.

Ahhhh.....yeah, I KNOW I'm right. I don't know what they manufacture on their "oldest continuous running woolen mill" but judging by the offerings in any of their catalogues in recent years, it ain't clothes. That would be why I mainly buy vintage stuff.

The pocket is the right chest pocket. I don't doubt that there are hunting coats with ticket pockets- although I've never personally seen one- but I would think such a pocket would be in addition to a regular set of pockets. Actually none of the pockets on this coat, as I've noted, are exactly huge. Maybe the coat was made during WWII and they couldn't use as much material as they normally would.