Vintage Workwear

[flat-top]

Killer video and an amazing song!

 

[mattfink]

Yeah, it's an amazing record....yes, you can get it on LP at www.histylerecords.com

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Cool Matt dig JD love his music.

 

[Stearmen]

Sweaters Work Wear

This is a photo my dad took in Colorado in the early 50s. These are some of his fellow electricians. Quite a mix of work wear!

 

[flat-top]

The skier sweater on the right would be priceless right now!

 

[mattfink]

That guy on the right looks an awful lot like my father....any idea what his name is?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

How to strike it rich:


1. Find a warehouse with deadstock three-piece moleskin or corduroy worksuits from the 1920s.

2. Sell to Japan.

3. Buy house!

 

[Metatron]

What is the explanation behind this crazy Japanese adoption of US heritage?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

What is the explanation behind this crazy Japanese adoption of US heritage?

Good question. And furthermore, what is the explanation behind the U.S.'s relative lack of veneration of its own heritage?

 

[Stearmen]

No Name

That guy on the right looks an awful lot like my father....any idea what his name is?

I am not sure, but his last name may have been Whitney. Was your dad in Colorado during the early 50s and an electrician?

 

[Deleted member 16736]

They look like the hat that the short mobster wears from the Bugs Bunny cartoons of the 1950's, but probably meant to be from the 1920s. Here's a picture of the mobster (Mugsy?) and Bugs in a flapper costume. Note high hat and short brim worn with a forward slant.

http://telemaniac.free.fr/gangster2.jpg

 

[mattfink]

Nah, it would have been Strickland and at that time it would have been my Grandfather. I do think he was an electrician though.

 

[David Conwill]

What is the explanation behind this crazy Japanese adoption of US heritage?

My theory is that it is a cultural reverence for victors. American men in the mid-20th Century defeated Japan's warrior culture, and they chose to replace that culture with one venerating those American men.

Whereas Americans have always been forward looking, next-big-thing oriented, and although moderately respectful of their past, willing to quickly discard it for short-term gain.

-Dave

 

[Lefty]

interesting Pay Day cap

 

[marineabilly]

^Even more interesting at that low price. I would've expected it to sell for more than that.

 

[resortes805]

My theory is that it is a cultural reverence for victors. American men in the mid-20th Century defeated Japan's warrior culture, and they chose to replace that culture with one venerating those American men.

Whereas Americans have always been forward looking, next-big-thing oriented, and although moderately respectful of their past, willing to quickly discard it for short-term gain.

-Dave

Maybe this topic is more suited for the reproduction workwear thread, so if it needs to be moved, i don't mind.

There was a superfuture thread about this here:
http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=148829

This topic is actually something that I plan to incorporate into my own work as an academic sooner or later, so I would love to get input from the Japanese members here on the Lounge.

I don't necessarily see it as a veneration of American culture due to their victory in WWII, however instead you have a longer trajectory starting with Japanese teenagers introduction to American Rock and Roll music in the 1950s.

Fast forward a couple of decades to when those teenagers where successful middle aged businessmen. Like most affluent middle aged men in the industrial world, their mid life crisis made them yearn for the trappings of their youth, especially clothing, especially especially blue jeans (what's more iconic of youthful rebellion than jeans?). So by the late 1980s you have guys like Hidehiko Yamana buying up vintage denim looms in the US to reproduce the EXACT jeans that they wore when they where kids. Americans couldn't get rid of these looms fast enough as USA continued their march towards deindustrialization and outsourcing.

With looms in hand, it wasn't too hard to reproduce jeans from the 1940s, 1930s, and 1920s alongside those from the 1950s. Looking beyond the the middle aged rock and roll fans, and aided by Japanese vintage enthusiasts desire for Quality anything, it's wasn't too much of a stretch for these companies to produce reproduction vintage workwear to supplement the market for actual vintage workwear. Of course a global recession that reminded people of the iconography and mythology surrounding the American great depression didn't hurt either.


But that's my take on it, and like any other theory, subject to change given more evidence and different perspectives. (please excuse any typos).

 

[David Conwill]

Wow, very thoughtful and insightful, resortes805. Not knowing the history of the Japanese repro market until now, I would not have arrived at that conclusion myself, but it makes good sense when put that way. Thanks for putting that out there.

-Dave

 

[mattfink]

I think it did OK for a 50's hat in a tiny size. Still good for something the seller likely paid nothing for.

^Even more interesting at that low price. I would've expected it to sell for more than that.

 

[Henry Gondorff]

Crossposting from another thread: I wanted to show you what I wore today for all the work I had to do at home. The jeans is an exact replica of a 1937 work jeans (manufactured by Pike Brothers). The rest isn't vintage, except for the flat cap from the 60's. So whatcha guys think?

 

[Dan'l]

^^^

Looks good Henry, I especially like the jeans.