I just bought an A-1

Posted by Bennett from spider-ti011.proxy.aol.com on April 09, 2001 at 18:25:28:

In Reply to: Re Lambskin posted by Mr. Wax on April 09, 2001 at 16:19:14:

Apparently, the original A-1 were made of some type of lambskin that did not last well, but also were made of other leathers. Some repros are cowhide, and others are horsehide --

Most commercial jackets made in the 1930s that I've seen (as in a Sears catalog) were made of front quarter horsehide -- chrome tanned --

I also just saw a wool A-1 on ebay -- claims to be original, and looks very old. The A-1's were very experimental and variable, it seems, changing a lot year to year, with different contracts.

You can see original A-1s in Howard Hawks 1939 movie "Only Angels Have Wings", also in "The Great Waldo Pepper" from the 1970s, although the knit collar was replaced with an A-2 style leather collar. I can't tell what leather they are made of, but seem very thin --

Bennett

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL: