From Bailey's Complete military outfitter's catalog, June 20 1940

[Maj.Nick Danger]

The inside cover with policies and ordering info. The "New khaki utility jacket'' at $3.95 looks like a real deal!

The latest for the well dressed officer. I wonder just what "Peacock Ironweave Fabric" was,.....and where do I get me some?

And of course a fine cap to top it all off!

I wish I had a time machine so that I could go back and buy it all brand new and bring it back here.

 

[Flitcraft]

The latest for the well dressed officer. I wonder just what "Peacock Ironweave Fabric" was,.....and where do I get me some?

Man, me, too!
What the heck is Peacock Ironweave Fabric?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

At 50 bucks a shot, it must have been special.

It's described as ~

"20 oz.ironweave hand tailored throughout - A new Peacock fabric 'Ironweave" dark shade. The finest blouse ever introduced to the United States Army Officer. Unexcelled artistry of tailoring employed throughout. An incomparable genuine creation."

Downright poetic description. Must have been something to write home about.
50 bucks was not exactly cheap either, considering that on the next page you could get a complete 3 piece uniform in the other fabrics for $48.50.

 

[Flitcraft]

"20 oz.ironweave hand tailored throughout - A new Peacock fabric 'Ironweave" dark shade. The finest blouse ever introduced to the United States Army Officer. Unexcelled artistry of tailoring employed throughout. An incomparable genuine creation."

"20 oz"??- Isn't that a little on the heavy side? Weren't leather flight jackets about 3 oz.?
That stuff must've been bullet-proof!

 

[Zemke Fan]

Great post, Major...

As a full-bird colonel I hereby order you (okay ask nicely) to edit your earlier posts and give us larger size illustrations. We can't read the fine print! (Also, I would gladly pay you $10+ for a copy. Interested in making some available for sale?)

ZF

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Yes sir, Colonel sir!

As a full-bird colonel I hereby order you (okay ask nicely) to edit your earlier posts and give us larger size illustrations. We can't read the fine print! (Also, I would gladly pay you $10+ for a copy. Interested in making some available for sale?)

ZF

Sorry for the shrunken size! I still don't quite have the hang of this digital photography thing.These started out as tif files I took directly with my camera. Took the camera quite a while to save them to it's disc as they turned out to be over 7 megabytes each, monsterously huge and an all day affair working with them! So I re-shot them as jpegs and posted here. I'll try to sharpen them and up-size a little, then re- post.
The tifs however would print nicely if you would like a few pages. Please PM me for details.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Does sound heavy, doesn't it?

"20 oz"??- Isn't that a little on the heavy side? Weren't leather flight jackets about 3 oz.?
That stuff must've been bullet-proof!

I imagine it's something to do with how quantities of cloth are measured. ~ 20 ounces per yard,...maybe?? ~ A tailor or seamstress would know the answer to that one.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Here's some basic footwear.

Trying to get these all re-sized,......hope this one works.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Here is some more up - scale footwear!

The boots with two sets of laces would be a pain,......but they are certainly unusual.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

And now,....

Here we have the ultimate in Officer's boots! Plus some other assorted accessories.

 

[Baggers]

The images are still too small to read the small print.

But oh, have I got to have scans of these!

One question: does the text indicate whether the officers' low quarter oxfords have a full leather sole or a rubber half sole? It might settle a point in the thread I started about the Bates "Dirt Cheap russet low quarters option."

Cheers!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Well, in answer to your query,.....

The images are still too small to read the small print.

But oh, have I got to have scans of these!

One question: does the text indicate whether the officers' low quarter oxfords have a full leather sole or a rubber half sole? It might settle a point in the thread I started about the Bates "Dirt Cheap russet low quarters option."

Cheers!

Err,..I'm not quite sure what to make of this,....but it says ~ "Cut along English military lines of pliable, full grain Calfskin leather in Russet shade. The outer soles are iron oak bend soles of single thickness and are viscolized (huh?) to make them damp proof." I think that means that they are all leather, otherwise I should think that they would not need to be "viscolized."
Hope this answers more questions than it raises!
As to scans, I can shoot these in tif format, but as I said before the files are ENORMOUS! Over 7 megabytes for each page, and thus not transmittable via the internet with my ISP's limit on the size of email attachments. I could however print tif photos in hard copy form on good old paper for you. Please feel free to PM me to work out details. Also, you may be able, (depending on which ISP you use) to clarify the images somewhat by right clicking on them and then clicking on the phrase - " Display image at full quality" - or words to that effect. Glad you like these,....more to come,....

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

For a proper fit.

With highly detailed measurements like these, one could almost certainly be assured of a perfect fit from Bailey's.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Here's yet another. Hope you can see these prices.

$2.25 for a set of gold filled major's shoulder - size oak leaves! One of the most expensive items on the page.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

An interesting thing i noticed,........

...about all the items made of leather, is that all were offered in either the familiar orangey russet brown, or in a cordovan color, a dark red - brown, almost a wine or burgundy shade. WW2 uniform accessories made with leather in the cordovan color are really hard to come by,..... so maybe the cordovan was more popular and thus worn more? Worn to the point of just simply wearing most examples out? Maybe more examples of leather items in the russet shade survive to this day because they were not worn as much?

 

[Baggers]

...about all the items made of leather, is that all were offered in either the familiar orangey russet brown, or in a cordovan color, a dark red - brown, almost a wine or burgundy shade. WW2 uniform accessories made with leather in the cordovan color are really hard to come by,..... so maybe the cordovan was more popular and thus worn more? Worn to the point of just simply wearing most examples out? Maybe more examples of leather items in the russet shade survive to this day because they were not worn as much?

Very interesting point. I know The Officer's Guide only stated that all leather equipment needed to be in "Army Russet" shade, and also stressed that exposed pieces (belt, shoes, etc.) had to match. Beyond that, I have no idea.

Oh, and I think that description of the shoe soles you copied meant full leather. If they were rubber it probably would have said "vulcanized." Which means I won't have to go to the hassle of switching out the soles of my Bates to achieve complete accuracy. :cheers1:

Cheers!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Ah,.so,....

Very interesting point. I know The Officer's Guide only stated that all leather equipment needed to be in "Army Russet" shade, and also stressed that exposed pieces (belt, shoes, etc.) had to match. Beyond that, I have no idea.

Oh, and I think that description of the shoe soles you copied meant full leather. If they were rubber it probably would have said "vulcanized." Which means I won't have to go to the hassle of switching out the soles of my Bates to achieve complete accuracy. :cheers1:

Cheers!

........maybe most officer's went strictly by the book, and maybe most supplier's of equipment only offered the russet brown? In this Bailey's catalog, every single leather item is offered in both colors for the same price. I think if I was outfitting my self, I'd go with the cordovan as it would match better with everything like dress blues and evening dress uniforms, as there are no black dress shoes listed that I can see. The cordovan just looks sharp too!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

And now, to carry all that stuff around,.....

The leather trimmed Officer's Musette Bag at $2.95, is a real steal. I've seen those go for $40 and more on ebay.

 

[Baggers]

Well, I do know that the book also stated to only buy quality (would last longer) and to stay away from anything that wasn't strictly authorized. It seems there was a lot of gear available that wasn't quite "spec" that could be purchased by the unsuspecting new officer who ran afoul of a real good salesman. The book went to great lengths to counsel readers from taking a chance on buying a uniform item that might make them stand out or (at worst) receive an order from their superior to discontinue wear of the offending item.

Evidently somebody bought some of that cordovan equipment, but perhaps they weren't regular army? Military schools and other organizations who wore military style uniforms could have also been users.

Army Russet was the only authorized color as far as I know for officers serving in the U.S. Army.

Cheers!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Well, I do know that the book also stated to only buy quality (would last longer) and to stay away from anything that wasn't strictly authorized. It seems there was a lot of gear available that wasn't quite "spec" that could be purchased by the unsuspecting new officer who ran afoul of a real good salesman. The book went to great lengths to counsel readers from taking a chance on buying a uniform item that might make them stand out or (at worst) receive an order from their superior to discontinue wear of the offending item.

Evidently somebody bought some of that cordovan equipment, but perhaps they weren't regular army? Military schools and other organizations who wore military style uniforms could have also been users.

Army Russet was the only authorized color as far as I know for officers serving in the U.S. Army.

Cheers!

Yeah, I see,.... I have not received my copy of The Officer's Guide yet. Come to think of it, I don't ever recall seeing any color photos that showed an officer wearing cordovan leather. And I see there's also listings in the catalog for R.O.T.C. equipment,.... so maybe they were authorized to wear it?