Blue denim uniforms

[bfryar44]

I bought these in 1994 out of a warehouse known as "The Hole". Found the shirt and paid $4.00 total. A few months later I found the pants and again paid a whopping $4.00 total. A very good price even in 1994. Funny thing is someone had relaced the normal "U.S. ARMY" metal buttons with 13-Star riveted metal buttons on the shirt. Looks like it had been done a very long time ago though.

 

[Bob Hudson]

Do you have some photos of the labels and maybe something showing what the original buttons would have looked like? What's the time period for these?

[Bob Hudson]

Photos of a denim overseas cap have been posted at http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...?showtopic=2654

[General Apathy]

 

You asked to see some buttons off the blue denims, here are a couple, the large ones were used on the shirt / jackets. The small one were used on the trouser fly's with one large one on the waistband. Note that the large ones have the word army on the bottom of the button and the small one do not. These aluminum buttons were also used on some of the summer khaki trousers pre WWII.

[Bob Hudson]

Thanks, I've never seen that kind of buttons before. I was looking at Stanton's WWII Uniform book today and he mentions 1938 Pattern and 1940 blue denim. These uniforms intrigue me because they look more like prison-issue than Army-issue.

[siege1863]

The blue denims were also the standard work fatigues for POWs.

 

[General Apathy]

During WWI they had brown denim jackets and trousers similar to the blue ones that Bryan started this thread with, the buttons were metal painted brown and circular with a dished rivit in the centre. Then between wars they went to blue denim, with the aluminum buttons shown earlier and then they went to olive drab herringbone twill, with several styles of buttons, but the thirteen star ones being the most common. The WWI and WWII denim ones were pull-over the head types with openings down to mid chest, the HBT ones were fully front opening.

[General Apathy]

 

Regarding blue denim I just thought about this magazine cover that I have framed on the wall. It is the Saturday Evening Post, October 1941, and the front cover is a Norman Rockwell. I just love the composition of the picture, the character of the faces, the blue denim and that Norman Rockwell imagery. What I would give (if I had it) for the original of this picture.

[SARGE]

Regarding the blue PW uniforms, there was a local POW compound down by the train tracks in 1945. The German prisoners worked the harvest and lived in wooden barracks within the wire enclosed compound. About twenty years ago, the cook house and two barracks were still standing and overgrown with weeds. They were used by local bums and dopers and we (the police) were constantly checking the compound and running folks out of the area.

 

There were two bundles of what had been these blue PW uniforms still in the barracks. The uniforms were completely rotten and had been picked through by bums, rats, etc over the years and were unusable. The whole place burned to the ground about 15 years ago and every trace is now gone. The only thing still there to tell the tale is the ramains of a rusted out towed field kitchen. The city had no interest in preserving any of this local history and there is now a concrete parking lot for a lumberyard in that spot.

 

Historical artifacts, and history itself, are quite fleeting.

[deros]

Do the reproductions offered by WW2 impressions offer the cinch back on the pants?

[TIM SPARKS]

The WW2 Impressions blue denims are superb, they have the correct buttons, the correct clinch back and the right cut. But they are out of stock other than large sizes. There are a few of us waiting for a new run, been told this summer.

[GIl Sanow]

I found my pull-over blue denim shirt. I think this is from the early '30's and predates the WW2 era full button style.

 

[craig johnson]

Here are pictures of the tag on the pullover style.

 

 

Neck tag

 

 

R/H front pocket tag (bottom date 1934)

 

 

 

 

Craig

[GIl Sanow]

The QM tag certainly clarifies the dates these were worn.

[gingerbread]

I have this one in my collection. This denim jacket was found in southern France.

DEAD LINK 1/13/15

doinworkinvans

[cefiler]

One of my dumber moves was passing-over a shopping cart full of denim daisey mae hats in an Army-Navy store in Dothan, AL. I think they were $1.00 apiece. Duh...