Lee circa 1944?

[Shaun]

We found these in North Platte, NE, USA about 10 years ago. I want to thank Paul T for his help dating these for us. You comments are appreciated!

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[fardin]

wow i cant believe my eyes. they actually look more like 42 , they look the same as my lee japan 42, exept of the stiching on the back pocket wich are upside down.

wow.

any more information on these?

[Paul T]

wow i cant believe my eyes. they actually look more like 42 , they look the same as my lee japan 42, exept of the stiching on the back pocket wich are upside down.

wow.

any more information on these?

You could of course be right, those arcuates can be 42, the laurel wreath buttons often date to 44, so 43 is probably a better guess, but it's hard to date Lees exactly as there are a lot of variations, would love to hear from any experienced dealers.

Your Lee Japan probably have the upside down arcuate because they don't want any hassle from Levi's!

IN any case, they're fantastic jeans and a great find, thanks for posting.

[Paul T]

PS, I should have added that altho the Lee leather patches seems to age better than Levi's ones, it's a real plus to find one in good condition, as they've often fallen off.

Note the narrow typeface - these are the patches that come between the hair on hide, and the familiar 'branded' look Lee logo, and were only around from 42-ish to 44ish.

[fardin]

as always your absolutly right paul. they changed the branded lee logo i guess then around 44 as in the lee japan 44 version. but i am never sure hoiw acurate the lee japan jeans are. but i guess they make their jeans from their archived jeans. about the arcuate i think they had both back then and for sure your right that lee makes them upside down because of levis now.

check out the pic sympathy posted last week, a cowboy wearing the same lees with the upside down arcuate. man i am stoked

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=26076&page=19

you will have to scroll down a bit

[Shaun]

Thank you so much for your feedback Paul and Fardin. I forgot to post one pic. I'm not sure if this information is accurate but I was told to have this patch on the left side is rare.. were they usually attached above the right pocket?

[fardin]

well as far as i know the patch was on the left side in the 20s an beginning of the 30s but, i have also seen some hair on hide ones from the late 30s on the net with the patch on the left side.

wow i am still in awe, thanks for the pics. what size is it ?

[crownzip]

whoa, amazing original lee's!

fardin, i too have a pair of the lee japan wartime upside down arcuate jeans. hope someday they'll look as nice as these!

[johnmc]

Levis registered the arcuate in 1943 so it would seem unlikely that these are 1944

[Shaun]

Hmm. Thanks Fardin. That's interesting. If they weren't attaching the patches on the left side in the 40's could this be an error? *by error I mean a production mistake? Sorry to throw another curve ball

The jeans measure 30 x 30

[Paul T]

Hmm. Thanks Fardin. That's interesting. If they weren't attaching the patches on the left side in the 40's could this be an error? *by error I mean a production mistake? Sorry to throw another curve ball

The jeans measure 30 x 30

It's possible, but there are a lot of inconsistencies with Lee over this period, when they were restyling constantly, and also incorporating a new factory to serve the West Coast. Their historian was never too definitive on dates, and there are often different arcuate shapes visible in ads over the same year.

Lee had always had the patch on the left in the beginning (initially the HD Lee Mercantile Company). I suspect there's a batch like this, if it is the 101, and it could possibly be because these are among the first post-Hair On HIde, but for more definitive information it would be worth trying someone like Heller's Café, who've had some very rare Lees through.

[mikedbt5]

http://74.125.79.101/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.paleface.co.jp/shopping/SUPER_VINTAGE/SP_VINTAGE96/SP_VINTAGE96.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpaleface%2Bvintage%2Blevis%26hl%3Den&usg=ALkJrhhIGgklJxXChsT3y_C3fTJQzxMaLw

The above link is for a pair of 1930s Lee cowboy , not the same as te great pair posted but hopefully worth discussion .

[Paul T]

Fab jeans, thanks for posting. They got me even more confused until I saw they'd had the cinch removed. Can anyone lift the pics and post them inline?

[mikedbt5]

Fab jeans, thanks for posting. They got me even more confused until I saw they'd had the cinch removed. Can anyone lift the pics and post them inline?

Paul , thats why I posted them (they confused me too) I never noticed te holes where the cinch had been !!! need to wear my glasses more often , lol . However the detail iin the pics is great .

[Paul T]

They seem to me (and I mgith be displaying my ignorance) to be a good example of how Lee jeans used to vary a lot. Lee had a very similar pair in their archives from around 1939 - except that the pockets had a different, much more dungaree shape. These are halfway to the Rider-style shield shape, with the 'X' stitching in the point at the bottom of the pocket.

I've just tried googling the thread here that show all the Edwin models year by year, would be good to see the link.

Lee Hair on Hide, circa 1938, courtesy palaface.co.jp

[fardin]

great post mike

here two pics of a hair on hide i saw a couple of weeks ago on ebay, the button is a bit strange na shows the variation in lee jeans, and the pathc is on the left again too

the link is great, there is also a 40s lee frisco jeen

here is the link for that

http://74.125.43.101/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.paleface.co.jp/shopping/SUPER_VINTAGE/SP_VINTAGE89/SP_VINTAGE89.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpaleface%2Bvintage%2Blevis%26hl%3Den&usg=ALkJrhjDfsu5RGkvN4veUxzpouX6mdNaEQ

[fardin]

well guess i was to late with my post, going to delete the pics, lol

hey paul do you mean this link ?

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=22514

and here the pci you might ment

[mikedbt5]

From the same site , check these out !!!

http://74.125.77.113/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.paleface.co.jp/shopping/SUPER_VINTAGE/SP_VINTAGE47/SP_VINTAGE47.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpaleface%2Blevis%26hl%3Den&usg=ALkJrhgbBlPzudxVxavVKL8SNQDlhHRNxQ

http://74.125.77.113/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.paleface.co.jp/shopping/SUPER_VINTAGE/SP_VINTAGE46/SP_VINTAGE46.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpaleface%2Blevis%26hl%3Den&usg=ALkJrhgwkjzIlOGSwPUJBWbxjrab_Q-2Eg

The home page has loads of differnt vintage gear from jeans , jackets and posters .