tweedydon
Call Me a Cab
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ORIGINAL 1940s Horsehide Half-Belt by Star Sportswear--with detachable belt
Founded in the 1920s, Star Sportswear of Lyn, Massachusetts was a family-owned company until it was sold in 1968. During the Second World War they held a contract to produce M422-A jackets for the United States Navy--the jacket that in 1947 was re-designated the (iconic) G1.
Judging by both the style and the label of this jacket this was made in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and as such is a testament to the longevity of high-quality leather jackets. Made from heavy dark brown horsehide that has softened up over the last few decades and so is now eminently wearable, this jacket is cut as an everyday jacket with a rear half-belt and a detachable front belt.
It features two deep slash handwarmer pockets on the front, together with flapped lower pockets. All of the pockets are lined in thick cotton drill which has softened over the years to be very comfortable to the touch. The jacket has a wonderful fur collar that is also dark brown, and very likely modeled after the collars that Star attached to the M422 jackets it made during the war. (Indeed, if this jacket was made just after the war this collar is likely identical to that of a wartime M422.) The front of the jacket features a shoulder yoke. This jacket has a detachable belt that can be attached by buttons to each end of the rear sewn-in half-belt, ensuring a very snug fit if so desired.
The rear features a half-belt and three back gussets to provide a slimmer silhouette. The sleeves feature American gauntlet cuffs with two ornamental buttons.
This jacket is 3/4 lined in what appears to be warm felted wool in battleship grey; the lower 1/4 of the jacket is lined in quilted scarlet material. The sleeves are similarly lined in the same quilted material, this time in light milk chocolate brown, making this jacket both very warm, and very easy to wear--quilted sleeves are very easy to slip on and off.
The horsehide of this jacket has developed an absolutely gorgeous patina and grain--the sort that simply cannot be recreated without decades of wear on very high quality hide. I've included some pictures to give an idea of where the grain is really shining through.
While this jacket could be worn as it is, it would benefit from some simple restoration. Most obviously, it needs to have a new front zip as that which is current installed isn't functional. It could also do with a good conditioning; while the leather is by no means dry, conditioning would soften it up and make it much more comfortable to wear.... Or else you could simply wear it a lot, and see if its natural waxes are still sufficient to loosen it up themselves. (This would be my preferred approach!) Each of the sleeves is missing a button, and one of the buttons that would attach the detachable belt to the back is missing. (These are very easy fixes.) The lining at the hems of the sleeves has some minor fraying--this could be ignored, or either patched or stitched. And, of course, it has the usual surface scuffs and marks you'd expect from a 1940s horsehide jacket!
With the possible exception of the zip replacement all of these repairs could be done very easily. For the zip, I would recommend Dena at Great Leathercraft, who has worked on jackets for me before, and does a wonderful job at very, very reasonable rates!
Given that this jacket does have some issues, I'm pricing it VERY low to accommodate the costs of restoration. Hence, this is just $79, OR OFFER, boxed and shipped in the USA--an absolute steal for an original 1940s horsehide half-belt with a mouton collar by one of the major wartime manufacturers!
Measurements:
Chest: 21 1/2
Sleeve: 25
Shoulder: 20 1/2
Length (bottom of collar): 28 3/4
Length (top of collar): 31
