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WWII Theater made Frogskin Garment Bag?


Catfishcraig
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I picked this up recently and it looks to be theater made from some sort of non-hbt frogskin material. Almost looks like same material that was used on Australian made USMC helmet covers. I can't identify the age of the Talon Zipper, but the thread appears to be cotton. It has the name George Naifeh at the top and at the bottom. I searched the free version of fold 3 and find a George E Naifeh on several WWII Navy Muster Rolls. Not sure what to really make of it and any comments would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks

 

Craig

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From what I understand these are Korean War era.

It could be the KW version, but the pattern doesn't match and the zipper is not the same. The zipper is made by Talon and it does not go to the top and the hole where the hanger sticks out is different. Also This one measure about 24"x37" and the garment bags manufactured during KW were approximately 21"x44". I'll post better pictures but I'm thinking this was theater made but not sure from what?

 

 

thanks

 

Craig

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I picked up one of these many years ago, shown here next to a post-War PX Cover made from Mosquito Net/Mosquito Cover fabric.

Like yours, it's made of Shelter Half tent poplin, and has a brass grommet at the top for insertion of the hanger. I have no indicator as to

when this was made, how many, etc., but I lean toward post-War.

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Thanks flag guy. That is a nice piece

 

Guess it goes back to who came first the chicken or the egg. Were they made and sold by the PX after gaining popularity from the theater made ones or made by innovative men that didn't want to pay for one at the PX. My ability to search for names is limited, but if mine originated from George E Naifeh the only records I can find are from WWII Navy Muster Rolls. That would leave me to believe that the former may be true.

 

Craig

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Good question! I'd make a guess that ours are the originals, but the scenario you laid out makes just as much sense.

Having a name on it is a huge help; mine just has "H O P" drawn on about chest height with an ink pen of some kind.

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I spoke too soon. I looked at it again when I got home and a marker was used to write the name. You can see the darker spots where the marker was first placed on the material. I don't think markers were around in WWII so even if it did belong to a WWII vet it who knows when it was made. I do have to say it was. very well made.

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Ha! That's exactly the type of marker that mine was applied with (time to take some more pics). I've seen BDUs made in the '50s and '60s which were made of the same surplus Marine Shelter Half material that these are; and as far as I know, you're right about the felt-tip markers- makes me wonder even more about the vintage of these things.

 

That one you have is in super-nice shape!

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