Vintage Appalachian Steerhide Leather Jacket w/Buco Saddle Locks

Vintage Appalachian Steerhide Leather Jacket w/ authentic Buco Saddle Locks on zips (no keys to locks)
Made in USA
Tag 40

Selling my vintage Appalachian jacket with excellent steerhide leather in great shape with perfect patina. I acquired the jacket years ago from an old vintage clothing shop on Grant St in San Francisco's North Beach called Old Vogue (sadly gone).

This is one of those hides that aged with a lot of magic. The jacket has vintage authentic Buco saddlebag locks on each Crown zip sleeve (two locks total). These locks show wear as seen in photos and I don't have the keys to these locks, but they make handy pulls and they're a neat bit of history. The zippers on the sleeves and pockets are original crown zippers and they run well. Measurements listed below, and note that it's a very short jacket, with a 22" rear length.

As you can see from the photos, the jacket has tons of nice color variation, with the brown undertones coming up through the black leather. The original interior liner is in good condition, very stable. The jacket is ready to wear.

Here are the approximate measurements, given in inches and taken with the jacket front zipped and the jacket laid flat:

chest 22.5
shoulder 19 1/4
sleeve 23 1/4
front length 24
rear length 22

$145 plus $15 for USPS Priority shipping CONUS.

Thanks for looking and PM with any questions.

That's really neat! Nice photography of this very unique - probably nearly one of a kind jacket.

Very nice! I have not seen this Appalachian model. I have seen this style with a Hercules label though. Confirms that Appalachian made jackets for Sears.

I don't know that I have ever seen Crown sleeve zippers.

I will put these pics in the Sears motorcycle thread. This is a missing link of sorts.

I've owned several Appalachian jackets and this one is unique.

Price seems good too!

AeroFan, thanks!

Tmitchell39, good information. In hindsight, I too have seen this style with a Hercules label but I didn't make the connection until you mentioned it. Of course feel free to add the photos to the Sears thread.

Really awesome jacket and great price too!

So this has nothing to do with the seller - it's just a frustration of the "built for the times" philosphy that jacket makers utilized back in these days. Simply - humans were smaller, and shorter in the 50's than they are today in the '20's. It's a big part of why I almost cannot obtain "fitting" vintage jackets in general. This is solidly a "42" by it's dimensions. However the back being around 22" long, and the sleeves being around 23.5" long, it would be comically too short for me. I might be able to pull it off wading acorss a river, as they say.

I wonder if our '10's and '20's jackets we are having built today may be similarly too short & small in the next 70+ years. If so, US home construction standards - such as 6' 8" (80") tall doorways and 8' tall room celings will also need to be adjusted. Then again, we will still be holding out using inches and feet while the rest of the world shakes thier heads at us and carries on with the Metric system.

AeroFan_07 said:

So this has nothing to do with the seller - it's just a frustration of the "built for the times" philosphy that jacket makers utilized back in these days. Simply - humans were smaller, and shorter in the 50's than they are today in the '20's. It's a big part of why I almost cannot obtain "fitting" vintage jackets in general. This is solidly a "42" by it's dimensions. However the back being around 22" long, and the sleeves being around 23.5" long, it would be comically too short for me. I might be able to pull it off wading acorss a river, as they say.

I wonder if our '10's and '20's jackets we are having built today may be similarly too short & small in the next 70+ years. If so, US home construction standards - such as 6' 8" (80") tall doorways and 8' tall room celings will also need to be adjusted. Then again, we will still be holding out using inches and feet while the rest of the world shakes thier heads at us and carries on with the Metric system.

Click to expand...

@AeroFan_07, shorter jackets were just adapting to the general fashion of the time. People weren't smaller in the 50's - trousers had higher waist and while it was fashionable to have sleeves reach a bit shorter than what's considered a norm today, it wasn't in any way significant because most people who are over 6 feet tall can wear vintage jackets without any issues. I know I can. In fact, I've never had a single true vtg jacket that I found too short, with many being even slightly too long for my taste.

I mean, this whole site revolves around vintage jackets that pretty much all the members seem to wear very successfully.

Height always varied throughout the history as it is more a matter of nutritional issue. People may have been slightly shorter during any time when decent food wasn't all too available but in general, human height didn't change much in the past 2000 years.

Monitor said:

@AeroFan_07, shorter jackets were just adapting to the general fashion of the time. People weren't smaller in the 50's - trousers had higher waist and while it was fashionable to have sleeves reach a bit shorter than what's considered a norm today, it wasn't in any way significant because most people who are over 6 feet tall can wear vintage jackets without any issues. I know I can. In fact, I've never had a single true vtg jacket that I found too short, with many being even slightly too long for my taste.

I mean, this whole site revolves around vintage jackets that pretty much all the members seem to wear very successfully.

Height always varied throughout the history as it is more a matter of nutritional issue. People may have been slightly shorter during any time when decent food wasn't all too available but in general, human height didn't change much in the past 2000 years.

Click to expand...

Not sure about that, a quick google shows the average height in France (for men) in 1920 was 168,5cm, in 1980 it was 176,5. Netherlands went from 173,5cm to 182,7cm in the same time.
You are right in saying that the average human height has remained sometwhat stable over the last 2000 years (170cm) but apparently that's because humans have only started getting taller during the past 200 years.
A gain of 8 or 9 cm is enough to make your average jacket feel shorter than it should be i think.

Sorry about thread derail -- Here's an interesting article on the topic:
https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/heal... century ago, American men,(5 feet 10 inches).

trapp said:

AeroFan, thanks!

Tmitchell39, good information. In hindsight, I too have seen this style with a Hercules label but I didn't make the connection until you mentioned it. Of course feel free to add the photos to the Sears thread.

Click to expand...

Here is a great thread on the vertical pocket jackets. There is an exact Appalachian jacket in black. Also pics of the Hercules labeled variant.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/sears-vertical-zip-map-pocket-motorycle-jacket.94252/

That is a great thread, thanks for posting.

Having owned and worn this jacket, I'm pretty sure the unusual long front vertical pocket was intended for maps. Before I thickened and grew out of the jacket, I used to toss a newspaper into that pocket before grabbing a coffee and going to the park. It's perfect for large papers, phones, etc, and not so good for anything with weight or mass. The lining is robust but heavier items do feel strange riding in that pocket.

In one of the linked threads, some mention is made of that vertical pocket possibly being for venting. I doubt that's the intent, but can confirm that it functions (accidentally) in a similar manner. With one hand you can flick it open or closed to dump heat, without completely opening the front zip. I used it this way when, say, I began getting toasty while lugging groceries up one of SF's hills. With a heavy bag in one arm, I could use my right hand to run that zip and thermoregulate quite efficiently. Just one of the interesting quirks about the design.

The jacket has sold. Thanks!