Vintage Cal - It's changing my outlook on things

[Bern1]

I still have the one Cal Leathers CR I bought here from Technovox. Love that jacket. Tight fit, keeps me honest! It’s a T shirt jacket….

 

[Leather Walker]

This is my other good find from my recent Central Coast trip here in California. Thanks to Thrifty Beaches in SLO! I’m pretty sure this is a straight zip unlabeled Cal.
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The retailer was a uniform shop in Oakland called The Hub Schneiders. I think the color of the exposed leather says horsehide.
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The jacket is a trim fit on me, especially zipped up. The sleeves are just barely long enough, too. However, I think this jacket still needs to break in a lot. The mouton in the sleeves still looks brand new.

Beautiful jacket, Chevalier!

I’d venture to say this one dates back to the earlier period, just after the transition from Star Glove to Cal-Leather. Looking at the seams, I think this #10 Talon is a replacement, so I’d imagine it originally had a Conmar or an earlier Talon version.

By the way, is it possible to tell what type of hide is used by looking at the reverse side of the exposed leather?

 

[Chevalier]

By the way, is it possible to tell what type of hide is used by looking at the reverse side of the exposed leather?

My thought was that the brownish color of the back side of the leather meant “tea core” type dyeing. I associate this black over brown with horsehide, but I could be wrong. Most of the cowhide I have seen has a black or greyish backside to the leather. Since Cal didn’t label the leather type used in their jackets the way Star Glove did, I’m always on the lookout for good ways to guesstimate the leather type of one of their jackets.

 

[Chevalier]

Great! They have more than one other tag here on the thread! View attachment 767161

For those who are curious, here is a May 1962 Oakland Yellow pages ad for The Hub Schneider’s. Looks like they were established in the early 1900s, still around in May 1962 (the date for this yellow pages ad) and gone today.

 

[Bluechel]

For those who are curious, here is a May 1962 Oakland Yellow pages ad for The Hub Schneider’s. Looks like they were established in the early 1900s, still around in May 1962 (the date for this yellow pages ad) and gone today.
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Wow! Very cool! Now I don’t feel as bad about paying too much for my Cal with their label!

 

[Bluechel]

As I like to say at my house from time to time, sometimes the dog catches the dog catcher. I had pretty much given up on my proper fitting Cal search. I have a straight zip that's nearly there, but short. A cross zip that's long but tight. Etc etc. Well it took 6 to get pretty darn close. Shout out to @Leather Walker who flagged it for me. And to @Kubatu who had it hiding in his closet.

It's tagged a 46L but feels more like a 43 in modern terms. 25 in back. Longer sleeves. It's 95% what I wanted. A touch loose in the chest, but the taper is extreme so it's fine. I can finally breathe and not feel like I needed a red cape lol. Anyway, I was getting tired of Cal Russian Roulette. So this is close enough. Once it cools off more and can take proper pics with jeans and boots etc. I'll post fit pics. For now, here she is... probably a 1970s version. Definitely well worn but solid. I'd say 8/10. Heavy mofo but pliable. View attachment 355275 View attachment 355276 View attachment 355277 View attachment 355278 View attachment 355279

Wish this one had more grain….HA!