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Whilst I have been in retirement due to real life workload combined with an inevitable compounded sense of being a kid in a sweetshop with toothache from the last few years intensive ebay/JSA buying sprees, I received this guest post from The Woolster in Finland, one of the farther reaches of ivy outposts but a committed and highly knowledgeable one, nevertheless. Apologies to The Woolster for the delay in publishing this…
Deadstock 1950s Baseball Jacket
I like the Harrington as much as the next guy, but for some odd reason
have never got along with them personally. I find the G4 suits my shape a
little bit better than the G9, but only just a little. The humble golf
jacket, along with the Catalina, favoured by The Weejun, on the other
hand, reminds me too much of the type of jackets my dad used to wear
throughout the 80s. These are all personal gripes, of course, but the
point is I’m really not spoilt for choice when it comes to finding a nice
casual spring/summer jacket with Ivy credentials.
The baseball jacket, however, is something I’ve always had a soft spot
for, and it does seem to suit me better than any of the above. I have a
great cotton poplin example from the prepster fashion label Band of
Outsiders, but finding a nice and plain vintage one without school awards
or team insignias can prove to be tough.
So when I recently came across this deadstock 50s chambray baseball jacket
on eBay, I just knew I had to have it. It came with some soiling and
plenty of shelf dust, but a good soak in Vanish took care most of that.
Not much info to be had on ‘Bill Barton’. I only found a few references to
50s newspapers, like this 1956 advert for some very Ivy sounding men’s
slacks:
“Bill Barton’s contour-cut looks trimmer, slimmer . . . without bag, sag,
or creeping crotch. … at about $9.95 IN STOCK FOR SPOT DELIVERY 100%
BRASS RAPID ZIPPER Guaranteed for the life of the garment GLASER BROS.”
Other than that, nothing much worthy of mention here. As I’m always
interested in the back story of the stuff I dig up, feel free to comment
below or contact me via The Weejun if you have more info on Bill Barton or
the Glaser Bros.
“The Woolster”
(Editors Note: A 1987 edition of Field & Stream Magazine shows Bill Barton as being a source for buying gear featured in the magazine and listed under ‘Illinois’ section. A further reference to a Glaser Bros can be found in the book The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization And the State, 1861-1865 where it notes that the Indian State purchased uniforms and clothing during the Civil War from the Indianopolis branch of Glaser Bros of Cincinnati. Whether the same as Glaser Bros of St Louis? Who knows…
Adverts for Wonderlust Textures by US Royal Denims are also found in the Huntindon Post circa 1953, albeit for women’s cotton dresses.)
LVC had a similar jacket out this summer: http://levistrauss.com/sites/levistrauss.com/files/LVC%20Sky%20Blue%20Bomber.png