Do you think IJ’s time period accurate jacket would have made of a different leather?

[SFGiant]

Such as horse hide? Or was lambskin used in the 30s too?

[Tibor]

All hides were available in the 1930s, though some different names. Lambskin/sheepskin was often called cape skin. More a question of practicality and comfort. Goatskin has the benefit of being more water resistant and very durable; horsehide is good but often requires more breaking in time. There are a lot of variations based on the tanning methods used but likely one of those. I would bet on goatskin.

[Seezer]

Since Indy's is based on an A-2, I imagine his would've been of similar construction if he was actually around then. You can check out Wikipedia's article for more on them:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-2_jacke ... nstruction

Basically most were horsehide, but they expanded to cow and goat during the war. Both veg and chrome tanned too. I don't think they were very picky, at least by war time.

Lambskin would've existed at the time for sure, but I think it would've been too delicate for a military-issue jacket. Remember that these things were meant to be roughed around and withstand a lot. Whether Indy would've picked a lamb for his own jacket though...I suppose it would've had a weight advantage, but probably wouldn't have lasted very long with the abuse he put it through. Using lamb for a movie set is one thing (comfort for the actor, easier to distress/show wear during filming), but actually getting dragged under a truck you'd probably want something more substantial. Heck, they even used cowhide for the CS jacket because of the more intense stunts. I think that should tell you something

[backstagejack]

I know they picked lambskin for it's look, the drape and the lightweight but I'd place my bet on horsehide mostly due to the trials he puts all his gear through.

In my head canon, Indy obviously has his jackets custom made (as with all his military inspired but not actually military gear) and replaced/repaired over the years. Why wouldn't he pick horsehide?

Or maybe he has different jackets with different leathers depending on where he thinks he's gonna end up?

[Rob]

Such as horse hide? Or was lambskin used in the 30s too?

When I received one of the first Wested horsehides, back in the day (possibly even the first, it was from their first batch), one of my reasons for getting it, besides being interested in the hide in general and wanting to try something new, was that back in the 30s, horsehide jackets would have been common and if you were wearing a leather jacket for adventure, there's a good chance it would have been horsehide

[Michaelson]

Most 1930’s catalogs advertised men’s leather jackets in either cowhide or horsehide.

Horsehide was readily available as the army was eliminating their cavalry horse herds in the change over to mechanized warfare , and the hundreds of thousands of horses left over from WW1 and into the 20’s were thinned out to zero by the Second World War. The meat was sold to dogfood companies, the bones to fertilizer companies, hooves to glue factories, and hides to clothing manufacturers. Nothing was left to waste and the U.S. government got back every penny it spent on horse flesh.

So, Indy would have had the choice of either cow or horse, and being a professor at the lower end of the academic’food chain’, I’m personally guessing he’d have opted for the more affordable cowhide jacket, then maybe upgraded by the end of the 40’s to horse, and possibly even goat as it became more popular and the surplus horsehide supply began to dry up due to the military need for flight gear during WW2.


Regards! Michaelson