1943 Canadian Leather Jerkin

Look what I stumbled across this afternoon - quite by accident - at a local vintage clothing store here in Winnipeg. I was looking for some old silk scarves to display with some of my RCAF stuff (I did end up finding a very nice white Tootal scarf that is perfect for my flying helmet display). The jerkin is in near mint unissued condition - just a bit wrinkled and folded. Best part - it only cost me $40!

That's a good find! Heck of a lot cheaper than I paid for mine.

Actually, the cost was a bit more than just $40. They guy sells vintage clothing and accessories. While in the store, I noticed he had a bunch of vintage sunglasses for sale. I knew that somewhere at home I had an old pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers from back in the '80s that were worthless to me (I hadn't worn them in over 20 years!) but that I thought he would be interested in. I went home and found the sunglasses, returned to the store, and asked if he would be interested in working out some sort of trade. He took the sunglasses plus $40 cash for the jerkin, and we both walked away happy!

Here are a couple more pictures of the jerkin with some of my other stuff...

Nice pickup! That jerkin is in great shape and a good price to boot. I paid $3 for mine, but it is beat to hell with stitching coming out and rough leather.LOL! Bet you'll be stopping by there more often now.

jholl72 wrote:Nice pickup! That jerkin is in great shape and a good price to boot. I paid $3 for mine, but it is beat to hell with stitching coming out and rough leather.LOL! Bet you'll be stopping by there more often now.

Hey Jeff! Have you tried a repair on your jerkin yet? I have two Brit jerkins that have the stitching coming loose on the top shoulder seams. Obviously a weak spot with these. I've been trying to figure out how to repair them without removing the lining and resewing the seams, but it looks like that is what has to be done. My Canadian jerkin is strong as hell, just the Brit ones have issues.