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Awesome estate sale find today!


bellasilva
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Went to the estate sale today of a local Korean War veteran who passed away last month. There was a line out the door but I managed to snag these items and I'm absolutely thrilled.

 

The jumper is gorgeous with liberty cuffs from Korea and Japan. The bullion patch is a tad dirty but still a great looking Construction Mechanics patch. His name was embroidered on the back of the jumper where the tag would normally be.

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And lastly there was some Japanese currency and a USS Wisconsin postcard. I'm not sure if he served on the Wisconsin or not but perhaps you fine fellas could run his name through the muster rolls for me. That's all I was able to pick up although there were a few unpatched jumpers and undress whites. Enjoy gents

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Good looking jumper.

 

I would say a tailor made one.Looks to have a side zipper in it and this was a favorite trait of sailors who had custom/tailored jumpers made.

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Thanks gents. Doyler you're correct, I forgot to add a better shot of the zipper side.

 

When I saw the liberty cuffs I practically sprinted to the closet door it was hanging up on.

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airborne1968

With a serial number beginning with "4" he could have been in during WWII but that type of umber was also issued until 1971. My dad was in the Navy from 1964 for 1972 and tailored his uniform the same way (ie side zipper, and liberty cuffs). If he got his cuffs while on the Wisconsin it would be either during the Korean War or from Oct 1953 to April 1954 when she made he Japan tour. She never returned to Japan after that date. Good luck on your research.

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Interesting Tom thanks for that info. I do know that he didn't serve in WWII as he was born, if memory serves me, in 1931 and his obituary only mentioned Korea service as well

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I would guess the postcard is just some memorabilia he had, not much call for Seabees on a battleship! Great looking jumper, thanks for posting.

 

Justin B.

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Thanks Justin, I didn't even consider that. On second thought I remember seeing a couple more unpatched jumpers at the estate sale, same last name but different first name. Perhaps it was a brother that served on the Wisconsin. Also please forgive my ignorance as I'm not well versed on this, but the Construction Mechanics patch, is that specifically a SeaBee rate? His obituary did state that he served with the SeaBees but I wasn't quite sure

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Yes, that is in fact a. CB rate. He would not have been on the Wisconsin (as a CB). That looks to be a standard issue jumper which has been altered

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The jumper is a standard issue jumper. It has been altered by a tailor, adding in the zipper. I would also assume fitting it more stylishly to the original owner. The rating badge is cut down from, I would guess a PO1. It has applied chevrons, most likely made in the 40s, but still found in tailor shops much later than that. My father had a set of blues made in Hong Kong in the early 60s and the rate and service stripes are applied.

 

This sort of work was pretty commonly done up into the 1970s. We would take standard Navy issue uniforms to tailor shops off base and have them "Pegged" or "Spiked" (Wedt Coast/East Coast terms). That usually meant take in the loose floppy fitting JPEG and put in the zipper (so you could get it on or off), Liberty cuffs ( you picked from a selection), embroidered name inside. Some also had some additional patch/ embroidery under the collar. My favorite was Eagles. The trousers were also taken in and snugged up from waist to knee, giving the issue "Stove Pipe" legs a more "Bell Bottomed" appearance. I knew some guys who would also have the inside tops lined with black silk ( like tailor mades). Some would just have the front fall lined with embroidery on them. This was cheaper than either having blues actually "Tailor Made" or the ready made uniforms that show up on this gorum listed as "Tailor Made". Real Tailor Mades were relatively expensive. And took about a week to make including a fitting. The Ready Mades cost about twice what having your issue altered costs and both could be done in a matter of hours.

 

The biggest problem with any of these uniforms is that they were technically not regulation, therefore, not authorized for wear. This meant at the least, you could not wear them for watch or inspection, requiring you to have a set of regulation blues too. Many commands would not let you wear them ashore on Liberty ( others did not care). And, then again, depending on the times and how Big Navy was feeling, what your CO/XO felt about them, you could wear them when ever. My Beloved Navy, always so vonsistant

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