1936 & 1937 US Army Officer Blues

[VolunteerArmoury]

I have yet to cross reference this to see if it's accurate information but in Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms on page 563 under Uniforms Between the World Wars the author addresses the Army officers' blue uniform.

 

It states that inside hung pockets were added in 1937 indicating that the initial coat did not have said pockets. I haven't seen such a uniform without the pockets unless I missed it I saw no indication of false pockets so was the uniform actually without pockets and flaps on the chest?

 

It goes further on to describe the categories of the uniform with the dress wear, full dress, & special full dress. Does anyone have a resource for the uniform regulation of this era to show the composition of each? Was there a mounted and dismounted versions of each? Were medals allowable to be worn on the dress & full dress? I imagine the special full dress they would be. When were these classes of the blue uniform abolished? There is a photo in US Army Uniforms of World War II of an officer wearing medal decorations on the blues with the knots in the full dress with neck tie. As with today when we wear the dress blue soon to be Army Service Uniform (ASU) we wear a bowtie for formal functions and neck tie for mostly ceremonial or other functions. I don't recall mention of a bowtie wear in the book was it? Would it be the difference between full dress & special full dress?

 

I have a Medical Colonel's 1937 pattern coat and I see no indication of attachments for the straps nor I see any indication where they were (it came w/o shoulder straps) and I know modern ones most often have the brackets/metal loops whatever you want to call them for the straps and I have a uniform with the straps sewn one and another with the straps snap buttoned on. From the different classes at that time I would imagine sewing them one was not the best choice. Were the straps of that era different from modern ones? What did the shoulder knot look like as far as it's attachments?

 

Thanks for the info

[QED4]

Officially there was no Dress Blue Uniform from 1917 to 1936. The pre-WWI dress Blue Uniform could be worn but it was not required so uniforms worn between those date were the old 1895 and 1902 with newer hats and accessories. I doubt any one bought a new one since the regulations actually stated that they would not be required. In 1936 and new lapel collar uniform with no pockets was authorized and in 1937 the pockets were added so it may be that there are no pocketless uniforms or if any were made they were most likely modified by adding the pockets. The book Straps by Dr. Howard G. Lanham gives a good brake down of dress uniforms you might want to pick one up they are fairly cheap as book go. Also, if I am not mistaken the Special Dress Uniform was the tail coat

[VolunteerArmoury]

That's re-iterating what I mention. However there was still a dress blue on the books during the 1917-1936 era but mostly relegated to duties such as White House personal but not required to be purchased by anyone during the period. The tail coat was the evening uniform which was essentially a civilian tail tuxedo coat with military attributes and lasted until 1975 and adopted in 1902. The Full Dress & Special Full Dress added shoulder knots to the dress blue in place of the shoulder straps. I'm sure there was some of the pocketless uniforms somewhere especially considering West Point grads for 1936 however I'd imagine it was modified with pockets and flaps since it'd be very easy to accomplish however it could also be the same scenario as with our current ASU with the progression of changes. I along with others had already purchased the gray Class B shirts last year prior to the decision to have the Class B ASU shirt to be white rather than gray. I don't imagine I'll find an example of that uniform however I supposed a photo may be somewhere hiding and would like to know if someone knows of one.

[GIl Sanow]

Well, the real status of all blue uniforms of the 1930's can really be confusing. Bill E. did as good a job as anyone ever has in defining what was what, when. The first problem is that these were authorized (in several styles) but not mandatory til '38. The officer uniform evolved with several coat styles, without and with pockets, and with several different styles of shoulder boards/knots/straps for dress, full dress, etc. Remember also that this was the great Depression and soldiers' salaries were severely cut.

 

I suspect that very few were ever made and fewer survived. I further think that once the authorized pattern changed (pocket flaps, etc.), the coats were retailored by adding those features.

 

If I were seriously concerned, I would look closely at every blue officer coat I saw to see the date -- looking for pre-1938, and instances where there are flaps, but no pockets beneath. You MIGHT get lucky, but I would not hold my breath.

 

EM's coats are a whole 'nother thing. Yes, there was a '38 pattern, but there seem to be variations there too. I suspect the regs were vague enough to make it unclear. Again, these were authorized, but not required, and they were private purchase and not issued.

 

G