Good Wear Leather Coat Company — Sale H.L.B. Corp Civilian A-2 Jacket

This item has been sold.
H.L.B. Corp. Civilian A-2 Jacket
Price: $300.00 (used condition) — note shipping costs below
Fit: comfortable fit in the right size
Leather: chrome tanned aniline finish seal brown goatskin
Lining: light brown cotton
Knits: replaced vintage rib-rack waistband, new cuffs
Zipper: original 1945 Talon, which is great
Size: 42

This jacket is a civlian A-2, made by H.L.B. Corp. of New York. It was most likely made in 1944-1945, based on the zipper, and was most likely for the market of flight instructors during the war. We have perused through graduation books of the Aviation Cadet Training Program, and every intstructor had a jacket like this one, rather than an issued A-2 jacket. Note the snap at the top of the wind flap - that was one detail seen in all the books we were able to look through. Instructors would purchase their own jackets, and companies like H.L.B. Corp. would have catalogs of flight gear ready to buy.

Note the original label. Lawton Sports Apparel was a civilian label HLB liked to use, and we've seen several other jackets identical to this one with the same label. The original lining was black cotton, but had many rips, so we replaced it with a lining that has a more common shade for leather flight jackets.

This is the later pattern H.L.B. used, as the earlier format, like their 1937 contract, had a collar stand, and more complicated epaulet stitching. We owned one of those from 1941 as well, which can be seen here. This earlier original was made for Air Associates, and had that particular label in it.

This jacket is well worn, but very solid. The goatskin is typical weight for a WWII jacket, firm, and has great patina. The lining and knits were replaced by us, using a vintage Navy waistband (which this jacket originally had), and matching cuffs. The zipper is original to the jacket, and we didn't do anything to it. Note how it's exposed at the bottom of the wind flap, much like the mysterious AN-J-3 jackets made in small quantities. H.L.B. might have bid on AN-J-3 contracts, and instead made these jackets for aviation instructors. Note the United-Carr Segma snaps, often used on gloves.

H.L.B. Corp. is possibly Harry L. Breslow, based on information from a Mr. BJoy on several forums. This company was a major contractor for military flight clothing from the 1930s to the end of WWII. H.L.B. also made this exact jacket for Missouri Aviation, a flight apparel catalog, in the same period of time with the exact same components. They may have supplid Karl Ort in the same manner.

No patches or name tags were ever applied to the jacket.

This jacket will ideally fit a person who is 5'8" to 5'10", with a chest circumference of 41-42.5", and weight of 170-190 pounds.