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Taubers straight-zip restoration jacket

AeroFan_07

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5,307
Location
Iowa
Hello Lounge friends here is the chronicle of a 60+ year old Horse Hide police jacket from a flea-market in California to it's current location and condition. I did not know much about the Taubers brand prior to purchasing this one. Part of the reason for the purchase was to expand knowledge and grow interest in other makers, designs, etc.

Here is the link to the original ad where Technovox had it up for sale, with some nice photos of the condition I received it in: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...ighway-patrol-motorcycle-jacket-40-42.100127/

From his own description: a vintage black Taubers Horsehide Highway Patrol jacket. Features the early “Nob Hill Genuine Horsehide Taubers of California" label. Also features rare spread collar, interior knit cuffs with exterior snaps, badge holder, hand warmer pockets with Conmar diamond pull zippers. Both handwarmer diamond pull zips work fine. Two interior pockets- one features brass ring pull zipper. All belt loops are intact. Leather is simply beautiful…wonderful vintage patina, supple, no tears or rips, but with the appropriate gentle scrapes and wear for a jacket of this age. The bad- MAIN ZIP DOES NOT WORK- will need replacing. And the lining is a bit worn, and the left interior sleeve has come undone- will need re-stiching at where it joins the shoulder seam.

So given the description (and very nice price) I took the shot and bought it as is, knowing the main zipper would need replaced. For this I took the jacket up toa leather shop in northern Iowa would put in a #10 YKK dull brass zipper, and matched up the holes as best they could per my request. This was done pre-corona-virus, so they had quite a bit of time to work on it.

I did not take very good shots of the jacket after I retrieved it with the new zipper - rainy days in early May and hard to get decent light. After I got it able to be zipped up, I gave it a twin-wash cycle of Woolite on the delicate setting on my washing machine and let it air out for 3 days. It was indeed rather a dirty piece at least inside. The washing helped tremendously. I have only a few poor quality photos of it's condition at that time:

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At this point I decided it was time to try out Dena - at Leather Care Specialists in Illinois. I called her and we discussed the jacket, which she was happy to work on. It's only about 1.5 hours from me so I drove it down to her. She has a nice shop, and plenty of experience working on jackets of all types. She really liked the new zipper, as well as the obvious quality of the 60 year old Horsehide of this jacket.

We set up all the details and I left it in her care. Earlier this week, I got a call from her indicating it is ready to go. So I made the trip there and picked it up. How does it look? See my first reply to this thread:
 

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AeroFan_07

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,307
Location
Iowa
Here is the result after having the jacket in with Dena:

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This jacket has really changed from it's received state. The complete lining is new, there is no "quilted poly-fill" insulation anymore, the corduroy around the neck area is new, and she was able to clean and save the original tag, which is used with the new lining. Interestingly the pockets all appear to have been re-lined with an orange cloth at some point, which is still in good condition, so those remain original.

The only downside to me is that this is a rather short jacket. The back length is only 23", and the sleeves are right about 24" measured straight. The Pit to Pit is 23.5" so it's pretty close to a 42 "short." Later this summer I will put it in the classifieds, meanwhile if anyone has interest in this one, just PM me directly. Thanks for reading, this has been fun to see a jacket revived! :)
 

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Psant25

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1,545
Wow love this! If sleeves were longer I would be very tempted, but then again you probably would not be selling it.
 

AeroFan_07

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5,307
Location
Iowa
^^ Neat to hear about the orange original pocket linings. I suspected that was done later. They are all intact, and after the Woolite washings, they are clean and good.

Should have mentioned that I let Dena do a full clean & Condition, she actually went over the jacket several times with a few types of conditioner. The end result is great, and feels very natural (not sticky or pasty). She offered the re-dye but I elected to keep the original patina as-is, let the 60+ years story be known.

Psant - yes, I intend to sell it soon, and Dena offered to lengthen the sleeves while doing the re-line. However she did not have much matching black horsehide, so I opted to leave it as-is, keep as original as possible.

FYI the lining material is quite similar to what is used in suits, sort of a sateen-type liner that slips on & off very easily.
 
Messages
10,158
Love this jacket. One of my favorite straight zip police jackets, along with Cal and Californian.

Dena appears to be very skilled, and the fees seem reasonable. I have to keep her in mind.
 

Will Zach

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4,393
Location
SoFlo
I don't love the liner color tbh, but overall great restoration work. Dena's website goes into great detail on how to properly replace the main zip. it ain't easy to do it well.
 
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AeroFan_07

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Messages
5,307
Location
Iowa
^^ It was not my first choice of color, I just wanted something different than black. She had black, dark brown and the wine-red. I had hoped for a brighter red, but decided this would be fine. Always like a color inside that makes the black & brass pop a little.
 

regius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
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3,296
Location
New York
Here is the result after having the jacket in with Dena:

View attachment 239743 View attachment 239744 View attachment 239745 View attachment 239746 View attachment 239747 View attachment 239748 View attachment 239749

This jacket has really changed from it's received state. The complete lining is new, there is no "quilted poly-fill" insulation anymore, the corduroy around the neck area is new, and she was able to clean and save the original tag, which is used with the new lining. Interestingly the pockets all appear to have been re-lined with an orange cloth at some point, which is still in good condition, so those remain original.

The only downside to me is that this is a rather short jacket. The back length is only 23", and the sleeves are right about 24" measured straight. The Pit to Pit is 23.5" so it's pretty close to a 42 "short." Later this summer I will put it in the classifieds, meanwhile if anyone has interest in this one, just PM me directly. Thanks for reading, this has been fun to see a jacket revived! :)
I worked with Dena once too, on a Bates, very nice lady.
 

willyto

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1,616
Location
Barcelona
Improper?

Apart from the shortish sleeves to me looks fine but then I am in the minority who loves short jackets(I wear very high rise trouses)
 

AeroFan_07

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5,307
Location
Iowa
Hard to see in the photos, torso is at least 2" too short, sleeves the same. Sit in a car and the sleeves are riding up my elbows. I've tried on so many jackets, and this simply is not my fit.
 

Seb Lucas

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Messages
7,562
Location
Australia
Hard to see in the photos, torso is at least 2" too short, sleeves the same. Sit in a car and the sleeves are riding up my elbows. I've tried on so many jackets, and this simply is not my fit.

Yep, at least 2 inches too short. You could wear trousers that end at your nipples but....
 

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