Is this a USMA uniform?

[condor]

Someone gave me this uniform and I have no idea what it is or when it is from. The only markings are on the brass buttons that say "U.S.M.A." and a name, A.N. Wood. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry about the pictures but they are the best I could do after several tries.

[condor]

More pictures

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More pictures

[condor]

Last pictures. Thanks.

[Retired Army Noncom]

I don't believe that is a cadet uniform but what I believe it to be is a turn of the century Mess Steward's uniform that would have been issued to civilian help (waiters) who worked in Washington Hall (cadet mess hall).

[patches]

Hearing mention by R A N as perhaps being a West Point mess stewart's ensemble made me think about that movie The Long Grey Line with Tyrone Powers, for those who don't know is that in the beginning he works at the mess hall as a civilian before joining the Army. Tried to find an image of him from this sequence of the movie to see if he's wearing something like this.

 

Ahhh maybe, this, the only still I could find

 

[condor]

They didn't show up in the pictures above but there are loops on the shoulders of the jacket for epaulettes (I presume). Would a mess stewards jacket have those?

[Retired Army Noncom]

I did the same thing, I got my copy of the Long Grey Line out.............

 

Shoulder loops for a strap/board would not have been on a mess steward jacket. So....scrap that idea but I'm still sure it was nothing issued to a WP cadet.

 

I suggest you contact the Academy Historical Division.

[QED4]

A check of the West Point Register, in spite of a forest of Woods dose not list an A.N. Wood as ever attending West Point. The book Cadet Gray which shows the official Army photos of all the cadet uniforms from several periods dose not show a white mess jacket worn by cadets. They did wear at one time a short white standing collar jacket but yours appear to have a lapel collar. I am thinking this may be a mixture of two uniforms, the cadet white pants worn with the gray dress jacket or white summer coat and a white mess jacket although it dose not have the braid on the sleeves. The mess steward idea seem to be the best so far perhaps they did wear shoulder straps at one time, the adjustment strap on the back of the pants make them older than the time the movie was made.

[condor]

I just noticed inside the trousers in small letters it says "WOOD TE (or TC). Can't find any markings on the vest. At one time both the jacket and vest had removable buttons. Wish they were still there. I thank you all for your information.

[Retired Army Noncom]

I just noticed inside the trousers in small letters it says "WOOD TE (or TC). Can't find any markings on the vest. At one time both the jacket and vest had removable buttons. Wish they were still there. I thank you all for your information.

One other observation is the material. One photo is a close up of the weave in the material. It's not all that great of material and would be used more for civilian issued work clothes than military dress uniforms.

You have interesting pieces and well worth doing research..................

 

Cheers

[condor]

The buckle on the trousers is marked "GERMANY" on one side and "S OLID E" on the other. The buttons are unmarked.

[QED4]

There have been no T.C. Woods at West Point but two T.E. Woods. Thurston Elmer Wood Class of 1917 KIA at Aisne-Marne in 1918 and Thomas Eugene Wood Class of 1934 who retired a Col in 1959. The style of the pants would indicate to me they belonged to the first one. It may well be two different uniforms belonging to two different members of the same family with T.E. being a West Pointer and A.N. not. The jacket and vest would go together but would have had black pants. Is there any sign of braid being removed form the cuffs of the jacket? If it never had braid it may be a navy jacket they only wore shoulder boards. As for the material it looks to me like Oxford Cloth which was used for summer and tropical uniforms because it was cooler than wool.

[condor]

There is no indication that there was ever any braid on the jacket. I am not a fabric expert but the trousers and vest seem to be similar weave and the jacket is a tighter weave.

[VMI88]

I seem to remember that VMI cadets around the turn of the century wore a white cotton uniform for summer camp - maybe this is something similar. I'm away from home now but I'll look in some of my reference books this weekend.

 

Of course the white duck trousers were worn with several uniforms as already mentioned.

[blitz67]

Maybe US Maritime Academy?

[Retired Army Noncom]

Maybe US Maritime Academy?

Very good possibility!!!!

[condor]

This uniform has been in a bag in my attic for many years. It is not something that I collect so if anyone has any interest in it feel free to contact me.