Blitzbuggy12 Posted October 23, 2012 Share #1 Posted October 23, 2012 My camera is having issues, but I recently picked up a 1949 contract Air Force EMs 4 pocket jacket at a thrift store. I just found in the pockets a full yet wonderfully petrified pack of Beech-Nut gum, and a neat cocktail napkin for a lounge in Kansas City. We have all probobaly found stuff hidden in uniform pockets, I was wondering if anyone would care to share some of thier favorite finds?....for me there is a tie...I have an Ike jacket that I found several German badges in, and another that had a unused WW2 Army pro-kit in the pocket (guess his night was cut short) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nkomo Posted October 23, 2012 Share #2 Posted October 23, 2012 Being a uniform collector, I am always checking pockets for things left behind by soldiers. Probably one of the best pocket finds I have ever made was a Catholic Rosary, a card with the soldier's personal information, and a Rules of Engagement card all from the same guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIl Sanow Posted October 23, 2012 Share #3 Posted October 23, 2012 I have found tobacco in pockets of older (WW1) uniforms -- purportedly it repelled moths. The worst thing I found was a dirty GI handkerchief! G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Rally Posted October 23, 2012 Share #4 Posted October 23, 2012 I too found some "treasures" in the pocket of a NWU parka...kleenex tissue (hopefully unused) and a Zone bar wrapper. I contacted the former owner (a forum member) to see if he wanted the personal items returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted October 23, 2012 Share #5 Posted October 23, 2012 Found several items over the years in pockets.Most unusual was an upper partial plate of teeth in an overcoat pocket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted October 23, 2012 Share #6 Posted October 23, 2012 Somewhere here on usmf we a great thread on this subject...maybe time for a revival? Leonardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitzbuggy12 Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted October 23, 2012 I have found tobacco in pockets of older (WW1) uniforms -- purportedly it repelled moths. The worst thing I found was a dirty GI handkerchief! G Yep, found a couple of those. Nothing like..well..65+ year old mucus.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsystem4 Posted October 23, 2012 Share #8 Posted October 23, 2012 I found a ribbon bar once but most of the time all i find is lint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Scott Posted October 23, 2012 Share #9 Posted October 23, 2012 In owned a Military collectible shop in Milwaukee for 21 years.I bought a WW1 Aviator tunic one time and found a mint Junior Aviator wing in the pocket.I sold the group to Carl Robin in the mid 80s.I also sold a fantastic Korean War painted flight jacket with stunning back painting, painted squadron and Group patches on the front a killer jacket.I sold it to a customer and he found in the two front lower pockets the squadron and group patches in the greatest Japanese silk you ever saw.I almost threw up.So goes my PHD in Stupid.After that I checked every thread of everything.Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted October 23, 2012 Share #10 Posted October 23, 2012 a number of years back when I was running ad's to buy I went to look at an A2 jacket. It was double patched (squad and group) and had belonged to a family member who had been killed on takeoff from an airfield in New Guinea. While I was examining the jacket I felt a lump in one of the lower pockets. Not being able to contain myself I reached in and pulled out a loose named purple heart and named air medal to this individual. the family member who was showing me the jacket said he had never seen these and was so moved at seeing these items he decided not to sell the jacket and has kept it ever since. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDogMilitaria Posted October 23, 2012 Share #11 Posted October 23, 2012 Not a uniform, but i found 5 mint silk TR armbands of various designs stuffed in a mess kit i bought for $15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_pickrall Posted October 24, 2012 Share #12 Posted October 24, 2012 The most unusual find I have ever seen is a surplus dealer friend bought a pallet of ammo cans. One can was full of pot. Our best guess was some GI found it growing wild and filled the can only to later lose control of the can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Persian Gulf Command Posted October 24, 2012 Share #13 Posted October 24, 2012 About 10 years ago I purchased a WWII German Luftwaffe flight blouse from a well known dealer. The tunic was piped in yellow so it was either flight or paratrooper, with the yellow tabs and piping. in the pocket was an extra set of EM shoulder boards and a cloth TR paratrooper badge. For me that was special because I collect U.S Airborne and German Fallschirmjager. I now feel confident that the tunic I have in my collection was worn by a German paratrooper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger Gunner USMC Posted October 24, 2012 Share #14 Posted October 24, 2012 I found a '44 dated Mercury dime and a lucky strike in the pocket of a B-24 Navigator and POW's uniform pocket once. a Purple Heart and train ticket stub home in a 96th Division uniform pocket and a set of LT Colonels leaves in the lower pocket of Colonel Justice Chambers (Medal of Honor recepient) dress uniform. Of course there have been lots of extra ribbons, toothpicks, gum wrapers receipts shooting badges etc that I have found but the aboved mentioned ones were a couple of the more memorable finds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkdriver Posted October 24, 2012 Share #15 Posted October 24, 2012 I just bought a M-1951, 51 dated fishtail parka. In the pocket was a small pad of sticky notes. I'm doubting they were period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharfmaster Posted October 25, 2012 Share #16 Posted October 25, 2012 Purchased a WW2 Army uniform grouping with an uncashed check in the pocket. A good thing, the uniform did not have the soldier's name in it. Regards, The Wharfmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddevil1311 Posted October 25, 2012 Share #17 Posted October 25, 2012 I bought an ACU top in the UK from a huge pile at a show and found a washed $20 and a guy's name and APO address on a scrap of paper in the pocket. I bought a nice M1936 musette bag from ebay - when it got home it was very, very dusty inside so I turned it inside out to beat it etc. In this process out fell two US insignia, two winged props, and two ordnance insignias (all officer's early screw backs), together with a gold USAAF ring! A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hink441 Posted October 25, 2012 Share #18 Posted October 25, 2012 I found this recently in a pocket of a modified DCU shirt. Qatar money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST Posted October 25, 2012 Share #19 Posted October 25, 2012 This find did not come from a pocket either. A CBI USAAF vet once gave me his uniform and several other items including a book on China. When I got home, I flipped through the book and found his blood chit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Keith Posted October 25, 2012 Share #20 Posted October 25, 2012 I found a nickle sewn into the lining of the sleeve of a WW II Women's Marine uniform. She always had money for a pay phone call! MSG BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge8 Posted November 4, 2015 Share #21 Posted November 4, 2015 Got a uniform in the mail off Ebay, and I always check the pockets. Felt some paper in the watch pocket of the pants....... a nice 1957 one dollar silver certificate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chis Posted November 4, 2015 Share #22 Posted November 4, 2015 I found a bunch of loose Lucy strikes in the pocket of a ww2 Ike coat. Usually just lint. Sounds like I need to buy more uniforms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doinworkinvans Posted November 4, 2015 Share #23 Posted November 4, 2015 I had a group to a AAF navigator who was shot down...according to the MACR it was seen between 12 and 2 going down...the reports vary. He hit the ground and evaded. Found a "hack watch" or A-11 watch in the pocket and it was stopped on 140...could merely coincidence but that is most likely my best find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spathologist Posted November 4, 2015 Share #24 Posted November 4, 2015 When I sold or gave away uniforms, I always hid something. A patch in a pocket, a rolled Afghani bill in a pen pocket, or I'd cut away a little of the stitching on a velcro patch and slip in a coin from whatever mudhole I was in when I wore the uniform. I started doing it after cleaning an old .22 rifle I bought. I took off the butt plate, and a piece of paper with the handwritten names and dates of former owners fell out. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Added my name to the list and put it back under the butt plate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 4, 2015 Share #25 Posted November 4, 2015 I too found some "treasures" in the pocket of a NWU parka...kleenex tissue (hopefully unused) and a Zone bar wrapper. I contacted the former owner (a forum member) to see if he wanted the personal items returned. I'm almost positive the kleenex was unusued and the Zone bar...when you're hungry, what are you going to eat??? My introduction into prophylactics was via a uniform...back when I was 15 or 16, I got a really nice, untouched, WW2 Army LTC's melton wool coat that was last worn in the ETO. In the pocket...well...I had to look up the word "prophylactic" as I didn't know what it was. Apparently "condom" wasn't quite in use at the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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