Club Obi Wan

I was wondering what kind of leather his jacket was, it's horsehide. Still in perfect condition. Some excellent pictures of it here.

http://www.rockislandauction.com/viewit ... 1/lid/3588" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Too cool!
Looks like it has been very well cared for over all these years.
I wonder why the stars were removed from the epaulettes

kwad wrote:Too cool!
Looks like it has been very well cared for over all these years.
I wonder why the stars were removed from the epaulettes

The four stars were removed after he was promoted to a five star General, Supreme Commander of the allied forces. The five star pin was placed on his epaulettes.

That is one fine looking jacket and one with a great history behind it! Little out of my price-range though , ! W>

The only two leather's that were authorized by the US were horsehide and goat. It states that it's horsehide in the condition section of the form...

Great jacket and great part of US history.

WConly wrote:That is one fine looking jacket and one with a great history behind it! Little out of my price-range though , ! W>

It is probably the most expensive A2 jacket ever!

Kubrik wrote:

WConly wrote:That is one fine looking jacket and one with a great history behind it! Little out of my price-range though , ! W>

It is probably the most expensive A2 jacket ever!

Yepper! That just may be the facts Jack! And, I thought that some Aero's, Kelso's, and others, were high, but this one is way out of my league. Of coarse, I could throw in the obvious one-liner here (especially for this site): "That Jacket Belongs in a Museum ! Sorry, couldn't resist this one ! W>

The write up on the jacket, below the pictures, says its horsehide. Its in the description of
the jacket:

"This flight jacket is a Army Air Corps regulation, size 44, horsehide A-2 flight jacket....."

Flathead

Hey, that's just my size!

For for those who have stated they don't like mixed grain pieces on a leather jacket, look at some of the closeups of the jacket, specifically comparing the pockets with the body of the jacket itself. NOTHING matches, so even historically made jackets were made from what leather they had on hand.

Regards! Michaelson

I went to an elementary school named after the man...ergo I should bid on jacket...right?

Beautiful HH right there, to hold up so well after all of these years.

My grandfather WORKED for the man in post-war Japan, but I'M not bidding on it!

Regards! Michaelson

WConly Wrote that "That Jacket Belongs in a Museum" ... that is exactly what I was thinking. I remembered seeing Claire Lee Chennault's (of Flyinging Tigers fame) A2 in the Smithsonian...Would be nice if this jacket were next to it.

Canada Jones wrote:WConly Wrote that "That Jacket Belongs in a Museum" ... that is exactly what I was thinking. I remembered seeing Claire Lee Chennault's (of Flyinging Tigers fame) A2 in the Smithsonian...Would be nice if this jacket were next to it.

That jacket does belong in the Smithsonian.

I'm not sure what the cut-off date is for "necro-ing" old topics. Since this topic still appears on the first page of jacket topics, I'm hoping it's okay to comment.

Anyway, this discussion and some others here prompted me to look around at various jacket sites, which I haven't done in a while. The auction listing for this jacket provides the manufacturer and specific contract details from the jacket label:

CONTRACT NO. W535AC-23380/ROUGH WEAR CLOTHING CO.

I see that the Bill Kelso Mfg Co web site offers an exact reproduction of the Rough Wear #23380... for only €740, or $1001.00 at today's exchange rate (plus €40, or $54.00, for shipping). At 1/75, or only 1.3% of the price of the lowest estimated bid, that seems like a pretty good deal!

Oh, for what it's worth: a bit of additional internet research indicates the jacket ultimately sold for "only" $32,500.00 (plus a $6337.00 "buyer's premium), less than half the projected price.
http://www.icollector.com/Historic-A-2- ... r_i9966867" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(The Bill Kelso version still sounds like a pretty good deal at 1/32, or about 3%, of the cost of the "second-hand" MacArthur jacket!)

It is highly likely that this jacket is made from cowhide.

DNA testing has been done on various A2 jackets confirming that cowhide was used. This particular contract
returned a positive test for cowhide.

Also copies of original specifications for cowhide have been published by Gary Eastman in his book
The Type A-2 Flight Jacket Identification Manual

http://www.eastmanleather.com/product_i ... cts_id=290