Dr_Heech
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Posts posted by Dr_Heech
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Feel daft putting this in the Nice things thread, but l've had it hanging around in the loft for donkeys years and it's just found a new owner so.
It complies to something nice that l love within my home but also it was my home on and off for a couple of years away back in my yoof.
Macpac super lightweight backpacking tent, which l bought in June 1996, packed away in 1999 and hardly used since. Certainly not used in the last 20 years.
Selling point for me that it was the lightest tent on the market at the time and is quick and easy to use. I hiked it around Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand for nearly 2 years and at one point it was pitched in one place for two months! It really was compact living.
And in situ in the garden with his mates
Hopefully my son will get into using it more often.
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On 3/15/2025 at 11:47 AM, Sympathy-For-The-Denim said:
I would have expected a crazy leg twist with those long inseams, assuming they had been fully shrunken
Yeah l would imagine so too. As a side note, when the red tab was first introduced and advertised in late 1936, the first ways of advertising were to hang these painted flat wooden cut-out cowboy torsos, with an big arrow on the back pointing towards the red tab. At the waist of the top half of the cowboy, there was a massive pair of 501XX nailed to it. I never saw the waist sizes but the inseam was 60 inches! Then at the bottom of each leg, a painted flat wooden cowboy boot was attached, to complete the whole cowboy figure. These were hung outside dry goods stores and retailers in the West in the late 1930's.
- sorry about the pic quality, but you get the idea.
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Rare 42 inseam 501SXX.
S stood for 'Special length' in the 1940s and 1950s, later changed to 501XX SP in the early 60s, then later again to the 1501/2501 and 3501 prefixes. I've seen a 40" inseam before but never a 42.
These pics courtesy of Mushroom vintage
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Look like vintage 37's @shredwin_206 Nice job
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@Maynard Friedman He's getting those Lvc 1937 501xx from 2004 that I've had kicking around for years. They are raw without tags in a sz 34x34. In comparison, he's a waist 27/28" at present but wants some wide baggy levis that he can cinch in at the waist. They're massive on him and too long too but that's the style his crowd are into atm. Hey they were only 65 quid some ten years ago and l bought them to sell (not keen on this model - shallow pockets and 3 button fly - pfft!). When he looked up prices for this model (both Japanese and old American made one's) they are running between £250- £600 retail, which made him happy. Of course l had to explain to him that nobody in their right mind would pay that for lvc but that hasn't taken the shine off at all for him. He's gonna wear them raw for a while first to see how they feel.
Of course before l let him near them, l had to give a small tutorial about exposed/hidden rivets and pre war details, using the raw 37's, raw FW42's and raw Lvc 201's as references. I have also loaned him Paul T's book for further reading 😁
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1 hour ago, UkeNo said:
This thread is superb. @indigoeagle & @Dr_Heech
The perfect amount of detail and history.
Having just got a pair of 37’s jeans from Word Of Mouth and recently started reading up on the 42 models of jeans and jackets, this thread is a great resource.
Thanks very much.Thanks mate, feel free to add pics of your womcom jeans here when you get the time.
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On 2/22/2025 at 5:20 PM, Dr_Heech said:
Picked up this vintage USAF CWU 45P jacket last week for a song and from within the UK so no bullshit taxes or import duties, yay!
Always curious of this type of jacket seen as it has been largely unchanged since it's inception in 1976. Think the CWU 45P took over from the MA1 as the standard cold weather cockpit jacket. This example is a 1978 contract that has the extra vents in the shoulders. Massive Scoville zipper down the front, probably the largest zipper l've ever seen on a jacket like this! Also Gripper/Scoville zipper on the arm pocket. It has seen service although no verified history - came with velcro patches and name tag removed before purchase., Got a few nicks here and there but knitted cuffs and waistband are solid.
Pics cross posted from the vintage clothing thread.
Decided to let this one go but instead of selling it my son now wears it (with his hand me down FW47'S) and loves it!
My reason for moving it on are due to me having similar jackets l guess, a similar cold weather jacket - my Buzz Rickson Navy deck jacket (1st model with zipper only) which is thicker and warmer and the handwarmer pockets are more practical. The other jacket being my BR L-2 (American Pad and Textile Co model) which although is more a spring/autumn occasional wearer, it is similar in colour to the CWU-45P has similar higher placed, less practical hand warmer pockets. In fact the CWU 45P is like a mixture of the two. I guess my vintage curiosity got my son a free flight jacket and to be fair it looks a lot better on him.
It's his 18th fairly soon and he's getting his first pair of raw repros!
So proud.
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On 3/12/2025 at 3:37 PM, indigoeagle said:
Oh, man. I've had that many times.
Sometimes the site here will remember/keep what one had written.No didn't manage to retrieve. Have rewritten a shorter version which l will constantly edit and update within the next few weeks.
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Just spent an hour writing and my phone ran out of power. Gonna take a break.
[Edit] lost it all, will start again later 😐
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The 1937 501XX models.
1. 1935- early 1937 (?) 501XXC prototype model
Pre-pocket flasher model with leather patch probably reading 501XXC (the C standing for covered or concealed?) Copper rivets throughout, with flat bottomed concealed back pocket rivets. From September 1936 onwards the 501 used the smaller 1st issue red tab (12mm as opposed to the normal 15/16mm) placed high on the back pocket. Copper riveted on leather patch. 10oz denim. Mix of orange and yellow stitching. Buckle is either silver colour or two tone copper plated/silver. No images available.
2. 1937 501XX (1937-41 model)
First pocket flasher model (dated 1937) informing customers about the new "concealed copper rivets". Larger 15/16mm red tab, cleaner construction throughout. Mostly orange stitching, buckle is usually two tone copper plated/silver. This is the most common model, produced for around 3 or 4 years.
3. 1941 501XX (1941-1942 model)
Reverse yoke model where the left and right top panels (yoke) are overlapping the left and right bottom (leg) panels. Still comes with 1937 dated pocket flasher and copper used in all rivets. Mostly orange stitching apart from the chainstitched waistband where black thread is sometimes used. The concealed rivets are rounded copper type, different than its predecessor. Both types of buckle used during this period but on occasion a black painted buckle has been used.This model is less common than the 1937 model.
4. 1942 501XX (April-August 1942)
New 1942 dated pocket flasher stating "concealed pocket rivets", New 12oz(?) denim, yoke reversed back to pre-1941 construction, mix of orange and yellow stitching, Black anodized buckle briefly used during this short period although one example found looks to have a silver one. Back pocket concealed rivets are now a rounded shape and use copper coated iron, the others are still pure copper until August 1942 when all WPB's were implemented for the S501XX model. This model is the rarest of the main three types commonly found.
The Anomaly:
I have seen quite a few pairs of 501XX from the period 1935-1942 which have constantly contradicted the notion that the left over right back leg panels construction change came in around 1941. I have seen pairs with 1941 and 1937 details but the construction is still left over right.
Hope all my ramblings make sense?
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Best thing to start off with is the patent of the hidden rivet and the man behind it, this eliminates alot of myths.
For example (pinched straight from the interweb) - the dates of patent application (7/7/'34) and patent application being granted (30/4/'35) show a time well before the red tab was attached to the (now) plain back pockets. This eliminates the idea of an exposed rivet model with a tab but opens the door to a possible non-tabbed late 1935/earlier 1936 model? ( Don't worry, one hasn't surfaced yet but They are probably listening). Still, plenty of time to see the experimental hidden rivet model in different guises although the only examples l have apart from the 501XXC-branded hidden rivet model could be customer requests (remember the dude ranches started springing up around 1934) but here they are anyway -
Firstly, hidden rivet model with machine pressed suspender buttons. These are not the press on types available to customers as a separate attachment. I have seen two examples of this model. This #11 from the 501XX book.
Secondly, hidden rivet model with under-tucked/stitched back centre belt loop. This was a feature on the previous, exposed back pocket rivet 501 model around 1934/35 which ties it in as a possible short experimental model. I have only seen two sets of images of this model, both owned by the Berberjin guy. Detail -
If anything it shows that there were a constant flow of ideas coming in to make improvements to the 501XX at the time, alot of this was down to one man - Milton Grunbaum, most famous for the invention of the Concealed copper rivet.
Milton Grunbaum worked his way up through the ranks at LS &Co to become the factory manager around 1922 and was the creative mind behind alot of proposed and implemented modifications to the structure and strength of the 501XX, for example one of the first improvements was to eliminate the linen thread which was prone to rot, so cotton thread was substituted. His idea of setting up of the modern production line within the factory revolutionised productivity. Improving rivets from the old school tooled head type to the more modern round headed type we're used to now. He was probably responsible for the chainstitched waistband and decisions behind the branding of buttons c.1927. Probably also had a role in the idea behind the pop-on suspender buttons c.1937 and the yoke construction c.1941. All this suggests constant tweaks, constant changes, some subtle, some not so. Obviously the two major changes for most were the Red tab and the hidden rivets. The red tab was soley advertised, briefly, by way of a painted wooden cowboy torso with a pair of 60" inseam 501's nailed to it before the patent 1999927A for Levis hidden rivets was on the top of the first pocket flasher attached to the back pocket of the '1937 model' 501XX.
So in conclusion (in my mind at least) there are 4 types of 1937 model and one anomaly. I will make my post about it next.
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Just now, MJF9 said:
^ which bits Doc, which bits??
Well maybe tomorrow I'll do a little update on the 1936-1942 era 501XX which may help me get it all straight in my head too 😅
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11 hours ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:
Well...you have them 😉
8 minutes ago, MJF9 said:... and me too! Well, for now at least... BNWT too
Indeed...
... and any new SC-47s will not have a red tab and will not have arcs
So the 'original' SC-47s that have a red tab and arcs are truely a collectible pair eh
Not many around either 😉
Love my pair, wish l had bought another
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@indigoeagle haha resident scholar indeed. I have to laugh because some of that info is incorrect now. This is because l am always learning, so more of a pupil still imho 😊
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Copilot is Skynet
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@Jurassic Thanks for that, never seen it. Seems l was wrong, looking at the date of the movie (1943) and the new(ish) condition of the jacket, l'm assuming it is an early 40s 506xx (which would've had the larger, post 1935 buttons) although the small thin pleat stitch boxes and lack of tab indicate pre 1936. Could've had the tab removed? Could be the 1936 model, big button/no tab? Also found one or two images of the jeans he was wearing in the movie - typical 1937-42 era 501XX.
Now l have the name l will have to look out for it 🙂
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Should've put this in the 'Denim in film' thread but l don't know which film it's from unfortunately.
I've seen plenty (if not all) of JW's black and white westerns from the 1930s and 40s but have never seen him in this shot and more importantly for me, never seen him wear a 506xx.
The image was borrowed from Vintagebrotherhood on lg, simply titled 'mid 1930s'. The details in the pic plus the date adds weight to this jacket being the small button version (1927-35).
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7 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:
...
Last night i watched Atari :Game Over .. the story and fall out of the collapse of the 1980s gaming industry.. (it's really good, even for folks with zero interest in vintage gaming consoles) .. then i had an early night
Is that on terrestrial telly Neal? I don't do subscription based stuff so here's hoping.. 🙂
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1 hour ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:
It's a drag but I "read" these books using Google Translate app with the camera function
Never tried it successfully with my phone. Did some of the Japanese language 'Researchers guide 501XX ' book but it was very laborious with my tablet thing.
You'll have to talk me through it sometime 😁
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4 hours ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:
Thanks Tilmann but unfortunately it's all in Japanese so will leave it. Let me know what it's like
The Wrangler book is around 60 quid available via Instagram but I have enough information on that brand.
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11 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:
Lovely!.. the knits look mint to say how faded it is
Cheers Neal. Yes there's a lovely vintage two-tone-esque sheen to it that only exposure to the sun can produce. Lining is quite bobbley but to be expected for a jacket that's 46+ years old. I wonder how long I'll wear this one before eventually selling it on?
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Picked up this vintage USAF CWU 45P jacket last week for a song and from within the UK so no bullshit taxes or import duties, yay!
Always curious of this type of jacket seen as it has been largely unchanged since it's inception in 1976. Think the CWU 45P took over from the MA1 as the standard cold weather cockpit jacket. This example is a 1978 contract that has the extra vents in the shoulders. Massive Scoville zipper down the front, probably the largest zipper l've ever seen on a jacket like this! Also Gripper/Scoville zipper on the arm pocket. It has seen service although no verified history - came with velcro patches and name tag removed before purchase., Got a few nicks here and there but knitted cuffs and waistband are solid.
CW is an abbreviation of cold weather (jacket) but in my opinion, although it's similar to the MA-1 and the B-15 style insomuch as it's a waist high jacket with pockets that are almost under your arms, it's not as warm as its predecessors but still fine for a short walk down the café for a full english breakfast this time of year.
Some pics ...
FFS - Really had enough of sufu changing the orientation of my photos. Even when l try and pre-emptively rotate it makes no difference!
Also l cannot delete this last image (of the second pic of the back of the jacket)^ despite numerous attempts.
[EDIT] Thanks for sorting out that ^ last point @Broark
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30 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:
In hindsight Charlie.. i should have explained the 'trends' with a bit more clarity.. rather than some half-remembered, cobbled together post.
I wasn't expecting such a great response, thanks for humouring me everyone
People here want entertainment as much as more denim, and you started this conga so feel free to update and tweak and so on. It's all good fun 😁
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@Double 0 Soul l've not done any of those things and rarely use detergent when washing/soaking rinsing of jeans anyway.
I have pair of raw 201's which fit fine raw but would instantly become Gloria vanderbilts if they ever touched warm water. This was what my post was alluding to
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30s Jeans XXC 1937-1942
in superdenim
Posted
Thanks for those extra photos mate. Obviously they are the same pair as already discussed earlier but nice to see the inside of the jeans, the rivets especially.