Unlined WWI US Uniform.

[Fred Green]

Hello All,


This weekend I was in the Dallas area and attended a show down there. I came across some thing that I had never seen before, an unlined wool US Jacket.. I had collected US WWI for quite a few years and had never come across on. Not only did I see one of these, I SAW 4 OF THEM!! All of them were mint condition. Most had some sort of tag but placement and tags were all different between the pieces.


I will post these each separately.


Fred

[Fred Green]

This example had strings from cutters tags and one cutter tag on it. It was mint with no insignia. There was a size marking in the neck and a manufacturers tag in the pocket. There was a pattern date on the tag of 24 August 1917. One thing about all of these jackets was that they were made of a very thick wool.

[Fred Green]

Number 2 had a92nd division patch which I didn't believe was good. It left the show before I could check the pocket for a tag.

[Fred Green]

The third tunic was on a us army display and was not for sale. It had 3rd ID velvet patch. The patch was a nice original. This one did not have a tag in the pocket

[Fred Green]

The last one was on the table next to us . I was told that this came from the family. I didn't take any pictures of the tunic itself, it was exactly like the other, but I took pictures of the neck and collar tags. The pocket tag on this one said 30 oz. wool on it.

[phild]

They are not that common and are called various nick names including “rough cut” and “dead man” coats. I first ran into them back in the mid 70s and have been keeping an eye out for them since then so I have a basis for how many I have seen over a fair period of time now.

Conventional thinking decades ago said that these were very late war stop gap tunics, but I have since talked to studied collectors who say that they are actually early like late 1917 and earlier 1918. Probably most of this type were actually issued for combat wear. Similar OS caps were made as well and I wound expect breeches but I personally have not encountered those.

I like them as they have a good look.

[RobertE]

Very interesting variation given the early war production (from an American participation perspective). Odd heavy wool, and look like decent construction.

Reed made USMC uniform items as well, and I wonder if any other service might have seen these material saving measures.

I've seen the liners cut out of lot of WWI-1920's blouses to fight the heat, but manufacturing them as a summer weight tunic with that heavy wool is very interesting. Who knows, but thanks for posting.

s/f Robert

[phild]

First World War Items don’t seem to get a lot of traction on this board but I have always found this variation of these tunics interesting. I would think that the official reasoning behind these is known and probably published somewhere. I wonder if they were intended for issue for the winter of 17/18. I have also heard that the thinking came from British input that the lack of lining made them easier to be ridded of lice and easier to clean and dry.

[Robert Evans]

Very interesting! I resurrected one of the very limited guides for U.S. WW-1 uniforms from 45 years ago.
This made reference to an M-1917 tunic, unlined with interior pockets that was Brit made. I had a couple of these when I collected U.S. in the '70s, but I also had a few unlined that were US made, having no WD's w/arrow.

My US collection is long gone, but I may have a dozen or so plain-jane's in storage yet. I will look for an unlined one. But for the accessible stuff I actually found one of the O/S caps which is totally unlined (not even a cotton sweat band), unmarked, and made of rough wool like a blanket.

For your info., Bob

[phild]

I was going to bring up the British made versions of these for the US, of this type tunic but I have seen only a couple. You are right about the field caps and there were also French made issue versions of those or at least issue versions that were French cut.