Dear fellow collectors,

I am intended to buy this piece but concerned about the brass snaps (see pictures attached). I studied originals in museums that have snaps with a silver/metal color of the snaps. Is the example in the attached pictures a fake or are there also examples with brass snaps?  Experts on the WAF forum indicated that earlier versions of the M42 had brass snaps, but referred me to this forum to seek opinion just to be sure (to be on the safe side).    

So your help is greatly appreciated.

Bas

genuine jacket, in my opinion, shame no belt

41 minutes ago, American Graffiti said:

genuine jacket, in my opinion, shame no belt

Thanks for responding and your confirmation. Is it true that the brass press buttons (snaps) correspond to earlier versions? Most examples in museums have metal looking buttons? So is this an earlier version?

See picture attached with metal looking press buttons

Not sure about early or not, all snaps were originally blackened, just depends what they were made of, metal or brass, which gets exposed after wear. I'm sure different makers used different snap brands RAU SCOVILL etc

Also looks to have all pocket bags sewn down for a 'squared away' look

Your jacket looks like a nice original to me with stitch marks from an oval and a laundry number (potentially researchable). Some of these jackets were made with brass snaps, others used snaps made from a painted zinc alloy material. I'm not sure if one is necessarily earlier than the other though. These jackets were made by a number of manufacturers under different contracts so they are not all identical. You will also find them with a variety of zipper makers, different color shades and even slightly different pocket placement. I'm not bothered much by missing belts. They were essentially decorative and often removed, especially on jackets worn with combat equipment.

also you can find original jackets with sewn or brass grommets for the air vents under the sleeves.

Thanks for the help, so I can buy this piece with confidence. I will follow-up when I have bought this jacket. Somewhere next week. 

Is there a database to check the laundry number and is this meaningful, since this can also be faked... 

Try this https://wwii-enlistment.com/ 

 

The laundry number is W-7025 but I can't find a matching enlisted personnel. Is there something I do wrong or is there no match? Is this a problem? I read that most records were lost due to a fire? 

Try this link. It should take you to the enlisted records linked to that laundry number. Keep in mind these are only the enlisted records. Officers often used the same laundry number sequence as enlisted men to mark their clothing but this database doesn't contain officer info. Officers can be very hard to research. Finding a match can be tedious. The best thing to do first is google every name to see what comes up. Sometimes you get lucky. 

 

https://wwii-enlistment.com/search/?laundryNumber=W7025&search=Search&page=1