Identify this Original A-2 Jacket

[Deleted member 16736]

Found as part of an estate sale with other WWII clothing. Looks almost unworn. Leather is great. No label. Private purchase? Reproduction? You decide...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_8224wt_1111

 

[Jeff M]

Why would anybody remove the label?

 

[ButteMT61]

27753 maybe? Aero 21996? Andrew will know...

 

[aswatland]

It's an original Aero from their last contract for A2s, the large 42-18775-P contract issued in late May 1942. Here's a similar example with the spec label.

http://www.acmedepot.com/a2jacket/a2detail2.html

This last Aero contract was an interesting one in that you see a great variety of different batches of hh used. Some were seal and many more were russet finished. Some still had berry knits whilst most had mid brown knits like this one. The bottom of the pockets varied from square to curved like the Ebay one.

 

[ButteMT61]

The colors threw me. Since most of the pics I looked at of the 18775-P were with Berry knits, I chickened out and edited it as one of my two choices. Also was not sure due to not being able to see the zipper box details on the right (as you look at it) side. And here I have one sitting on the table in front of me lol Thanks. Always learning...

 

[Edward]

It's an original Aero from their last contract for A2s, the large 42-18775-P contract issued in late May 1942. Here's a similar example with the spec label.

http://www.acmedepot.com/a2jacket/a2detail2.html

This last Aero contract was an interesting one in that you see a great variety of different batches of hh used. Some were seal and many more were russet finished. Some still had berry knits whilst most had mid brown knits like this one. The bottom of the pockets varied from square to curved like the Ebay one.

Did Aero ever put out a russet jacket with the reddish (berry?) knits? I always thought that would look sharp, though I'm sure that wasn't a primary concern for wartime production!

 

[aswatland]

Yes Edward, some from this contract were russet with berry knits.

 

[MissMittens]

Really great jacket at a great price......shame it's not larger though

 

[aswatland]

Really great jacket at a great price......shame it's not larger though

I agree about the size. I suspect it's a size 38. The $500 price is just the auction starting price and I guess this jacket will sell for double this amount.

 

[ButteMT61]

Sales have been slow lately. A few on the $1100 have not sold.

 

[MissMittens]

There's no big anniversary this year.......the market always drops. Dropped significantly after the 60th D-Day anniversary a couple of yrs back, picked up a little, then died again. There haven't been any WW2 blockbusters recently either with which to drive up trade

 

[ButteMT61]

What??? Red Tails broke all records! lol

 

[aswatland]

There's no big anniversary this year.......the market always drops. Dropped significantly after the 60th D-Day anniversary a couple of yrs back, picked up a little, then died again. There haven't been any WW2 blockbusters recently either with which to drive up trade

I thought the 60th anniversary of D-Day was in 2004, which was 6 years ago! During the last 6 years the price paid for really decent A2s in a large wearable size have held up well. I think the current recession has had an effect, but really decent examples still command high prices and yes Red Tails is stimulating interest in A2s.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Sales have been slow lately. A few on the $1100 have not sold.

I'm noticing the same thing. In many cases, vintage A2's are selling for at or below the price of a top-shelf reproduction. I wonder why.

 

[Edward]

Yes Edward, some from this contract were russet with berry knits.

Thanks! Were they especially rare? I don't think I've ever seen one.

What??? Red Tails broke all records! lol

I don't think it got a theatrical release over here. Shame, as despite my distaste for George Lucas in general, and the poor reviews of this film in particular, I'd like to see it. I must look and see if the DVD is available cheap yet.

I'm noticing the same thing. In many cases, vintage A2's are selling for at or below the price of a top-shelf reproduction. I wonder why.

It does seem counter intuitive, but maybe there's just a bigger market for them? All my jackets are repro. I've not paid full price for any of my flying jackets, but still... I deliberately went repro because I don't have the space to keep a jacket for collectability alone, and I could never bring myself to wear a precious original with the sort of frequency I would need to be able to justify it in my wardrobe. That being the case, I'd rather leave it to those with the space and time to maintain them so they aren't lost... I imagine if the market swings to be mostly folks in my position, that could create the sort of picture you're seeing. [huh]

 

[aswatland]

The price of original A2s rocketted about 10-15 years ago when the Japanese were buying them up as if there was no tomorrow! Decent, wearable originals often sell for less than the price of a new high end repro these days. But in the last two years the price of repro A2s has shot up where as previously wearable originals often sold for more than a new repro.

 

[ButteMT61]

There's probably three markets for original A-2'a.
1) Collectors
2) Reenactors
3) Someone that wants to wear an original item, but is neither a collector, per se nor a reenactor. They've become fashionable as we've seen lately.

Repro prices all have gone up - more than once in the last three years, but most folks who spend $1000+ want to be able to wear a jacket they buy. For guys like me, the availability of large sized originals is almost nil. And the prices are higher too. There's a couple A-2's up now that have been priced ~$1k mark that haven't moved, and a lot of the ones I've seen at the flea markets and swap meets have not moved either. Just an observation...

I do think Red Tails got more folks interested in gear - A-2's specifically. It was one great gear movie, if nothing else. Still worth seeing.

 

[MissMittens]

I thought the 60th anniversary of D-Day was in 2004, which was 6 years ago! During the last 6 years the price paid for really decent A2s in a large wearable size have held up well. I think the current recession has had an effect, but really decent examples still command high prices and yes Red Tails is stimulating interest in A2s.

Time flies.............all I know is I closed my shop not long after the D-Day anniversary, after seeing business decline 90%+ in the following 2 months

 

[MissMittens]

There's probably three markets for original A-2'a.
1) Collectors
2) Reenactors
3) Someone that wants to wear an original item, but is neither a collector, per se nor a reenactor. They've become fashionable as we've seen lately.

Repro prices all have gone up - more than once in the last three years, but most folks who spend $1000+ want to be able to wear a jacket they buy. For guys like me, the availability of large sized originals is almost nil. And the prices are higher too. There's a couple A-2's up now that have been priced ~$1k mark that haven't moved, and a lot of the ones I've seen at the flea markets and swap meets have not moved either. Just an observation...

I do think Red Tails got more folks interested in gear - A-2's specifically. It was one great gear movie, if nothing else. Still worth seeing.

Lucas did the gear right. Have to give him that.

 

[ButteMT61]

Time flies.............all I know is I closed my shop not long after the D-Day anniversary, after seeing business decline 90%+ in the following 2 months

Sorry to hear that. But, you have under two years to go to get ready for #70!