Need Help Identifying my 60's Cafe Racer Jacket Please

[RyanSF]

Hi everyone! So happy I found this website and forum!
I have not been able to figure out which leather company made my cafe racer jacket. It appears to be made of horsehide or steerhide.

The collar has double snaps. The main zipper is a Talon.
The chest pockets have brass chains and silver O pulls
The sleeve zips have US engraved on them
The tag is gone but the remnants of it are a burnt orange goldenrod color (see pics)
Inside lining is black silk/satin

I'm attaching some photos. Hopefully on of you have seen or can identify my jacket for me.

Thank you for your help!

-Ryan

 

[Seb Lucas]

Harley had orange in their various tags and it resembles some Harley Davidson jackets I've seen.

 

[Monitor]

Strange. I don't think I have ever seen this exact style. . . It looks a lot like Beck but some of the details are off. Then again, it looks even more like Schott but I've never seen one like this. Sears, Excelled... Custom HD? Sleeve seam zips is what's confusing me most.

tl;dr, no clue.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Man, if you don't know, we're screwed. The back looks like a Schott. The chest zips are wrong and the collar isn't right.

 

[Monitor]

lol Seb, but I mostly know them from photos.

Ton will know!

The back could definitely be Schott. However, the collar is similar to Beck but these had only one snap on the right side. Plus the textile hanging loop seems to have been there as well. I really wonder...

 

[AeroFan_07]

Mystery to me indeed. Nice patina!!

 

[ton312]

I wish I knew! The front shot makes me think Kehoe or Fidelity, maybe Reed but the collar isn't quite right for those. The back absolutely looks like a Schott/Beck...I dunno maybe a Passic? That collar shape is very distinctive but I can't peg it...

 

[Monitor]

I've went thru my cafe racer folder and there's no match. I'm really curious now! Someone has to know.

...is it worrying that I don't have a folder with pretty girls but I have one with cafe racer leather jackets?

 

[Monitor]

WAIT! I GOT IT!

It's Golden Bear!!!

 

[RyanSF]

Thanks for all the responses! The golden bear has a brass zipper and mine does not. Does that make a difference? Mine also has two snaps on the fastening tab not the collar. Pocket zips are different as well.

 

[RyanSF]

I had some repairs done last year. No zipper replacement and the pocket zips are old so most likely original

 

[Monitor]

Well, Golden Bear is the closest match I could think of. Perhaps it's not Golden Bear but I honestly don't know what else could it be?
In any case, hardware doesn't make much of a difference. What can be found on these jackets is often all over the place, depends on what they had at the moment so hardware maker, colour or type really isn't indicative of anything. Two jackets could've been made a decade apart from the same pattern so it's often that vintage jackets are inconsistent in hardware or hardware colour. Same as with Brooks that went thru quite a few revisions with age while essentially remaining the same. Early ones had a vertical back seam they got rid of later on. I think pretty much every existing type of zipper has been used in Brooks at some point? They also moved the sleeve zips from the inside sleeve panel to the back sleeve seam but it was still the same jacket.
Anyway, I remember one Golden Bear I was looking at on eBay some time ago, it had the exact same styling all around. The hardware might've been different but yeah. . .

 

[Peacoat]

Monitor is right as usual; it is Golden Bear.

Welcome to the Board Ryan.

 

[RyanSF]

Right on. Golden bear it is! Thanks for the help and the welcome! This place is truly a wealth of information. Happy to be here! Now if I can just find a 641HH in 42

 

[Seb Lucas]

Are we saying that a GB is the best hypothesis for now? I get that makers mixed things up with hardware but I'm not sure yet.

 

[CFDOC]

I am very certain it is a Beck. Beck jackets have all these features (a slightly curved kidney panel like a Schott), double button collar strap, action swing arms. Is there a tag on the inside collar with some random numbers on it?

 

[technovox]

I 'm almost sure it's not a Golden Bear. The Golden Bear collar is different- more square, and all the Golden Bear cafe racers I've owned have always had teardrop talon zips on the pockets. Not a Beck either- collar is different. And definitely not a Kehoe, Passaic, Shields, Brimaco, Brooks, Fidelity, Cal Leather, Bates, Lesco, Tauber, Harley (AMF or Workmanship), or Just Leather.
However, your jacket's collar is the same as the collar on a Herms Leather Togs, and same zip pocket ring pulls...but then it's different in that Herms cafe racers have epaulets, side straps, and a Buco style back.
Nice looking jacket though- love that worn-in patina...looks just right!
The mystery continues...