New Old Stock 1930's Lee Union Made Sanforized Shrunk Housemark Label Overalls

2 killer lots of 1930's era Lee "Housemark" Label Union Made Sanforized Shrunk Overalls courtesy of casims1

Lot of 5 features rare original pocket flashers, tags and even more rare paper bag packaging

 Lot of 4 features rarely seen full color pocket flashers and original tags

1940's era Lee Overalls Union Made advertizing sign courtesy of indian-head

Lee JELT DENIM Overalls flasher courtesy of the most excellent blog Union-Made.

Much respect to this great looking and informative resource, a must visit location for those who appreciate vintage graphic design and work wear history

1940's Era Salt & Pepper Twill Pants WPA New Deal Program

Killer pair of never worn Depression Era WPA / New Deal Program button fly pants. Recently sold for just north of the $600 mark. Details include,

• Salt & Pepper twill fabric (aka Convert Cloth)

• Wide waist band 

• 2 button fly with single button top closure. Lack of button hole for top closure is another sign that these pants are a sample

• Dungaree style angular front pockets with large HD bar-tack reinforcement

• Unusual front coin / watch pocket located between the right front pocket and fly as opposed to the more common location above the right side front pocket  

• Tagged WPA Not To Be Sold (Illinois), Style 102, size 18, lot 633, date 3-7-42 

Photos and information courtesy of Maklinens

1950's Era HEADLIGHT HEADIES Vintage Dungarees

1950's Era HEADLIGHT OVERALLS brand, HEADIES model boys dungarees that recently sold for north of the $1500 dollar figure. Deadstock condition and Union Made in the USA of Sanforized denim. Thanks to backtotheunknown for this find, the photos and following information.  

"In the 1930’s, Headlight Overalls of Detroit merged with Crown Overall Mfg. Co. of Cincinnati.  The new company, Crown-Headlight, was headquartered in Cincinnati/San Francisco but continued to sell garments under both the Crown and Headlight brands. As the waist label on these jeans confirms, this pair is of the post-merger era.  The waist label also mentions federal specifications for textiles that were first introduced in April 1937.  Because Crown-Headlight was ultimately bought out by Carhartt in 1960. In the early 1950’s, advertisements for Headlight apparel marketed the Headies line of jeans as “High styled dungarees. Extra full cut to fit husky youths and boys.”

One reason these rarely seen fold down front pocket HEADIES caught our eye was due to sharing many of the design details as a similar pair of THE BIG FAVORITE boys dungarees, part of the vintageworkwear.com collection. They are seen in the photo below in addition to a older post here along with a THE BIG FAVORITE jacket.

A nice piece on HEADLIGHT OVERALLS manufacturer Larned Carter & Co. including this pair of 1930's era HEADLIGHT buckle back dungarees can be found at Blue Gold Blues

1930's era HEADLIGHT buckle back dungarees courtesy of Ragtop Vintage

1950's era HEADLIGHT button fly dungarees courtesy of Moth Food

Lee Jelt Denim Union Made Dungarees Lot 050-6041

1970's era New Old Stock Lee Jelt Denim Union Made •SANFOR SET• 
Dungarees, Lot 050-6041 Made in USA. 
Sold via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.

Pocket flasher along with size and lot tag sewn into lower pocket seam

Backside of pocket flasher seen inside of back pocket, also United Garment Workers of America AFL-CIO union label. I particularly like the opening portion of the description that reads "Designed for a tough day's work, day after day. Pure brawn to meet the stress and strain of the most rugged jobs."

Back pocket with Lee R MR, MADE IN USA printed label.  Details include subtle two tone yellow stitching, triple stitched back yoke & leg seams and pocket corner & hammer loop bar-tack reinforcements

These dungarees share many of the same design details as the highly desirable 1940's-1960's era red and black label Lot 191Z Jelt Denim dungarees including angled front pockets, front rt side coin pocket, rt side pliers pocket & hammer loop, half lined back pockets, subtle two tone yellow stitching and Lee stamped copper dome rivet reinforced front pockets

Lee embossed snap closure

Talon 42 brass zipper

Bar-tack reinforced crotch and fly along with more two tone stitching, this time in yellow & black

Close up of the upper front pocket Lee stamped copper dome rivet, yellow stitching and belt loop bar-tack

Lee UNION MADE SANFORIZED PAINTERS WHITES

Vintage deadstock 1960's era Lee SANFORIZED white herringbone twill cotton work cap, Lot 180-5910. Union Made in the U.S.A.  Rarely seen "balloon top" style, from the vintage workwear collection.

Lee Union Made lot & size tag and United Hatters Caps & Millinery Workers Union label

Vintage deadstock 1950's era Lee SANFORIZED natural canvas drill painters overalls, Lot B54SB. Union Made in the U.S.A. Sold via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.

Lee "long L" buttons

Lee UNION MADE SANFORIZED size & lot tag

United Garment Workers of America DUCK GOODS Union Label

1950's era Lee Union Made Engineer & Workman's Cap Made in U.S.A.

Vintage deadstock Lee Union Made Sanforized Fade Proof Grey Cotton Twill Engineers & Workman's Cap, Made in U.S.A. Part of The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co. collection and archive.

1950's era Lee UNION MADE Engineer & Workman's Cap. Details include machine loomed label and side ventilation holes with metal grommets 

 UNION MADE SANFORIZED FADE PROOF MADE IN U.S.A. label with ® no MR 

United Hatters Cap & Millinery Workers Union UNION MADE label. 
Seen on the right side is the Allied Printing Trades Council Union logo

Genuine Lee Washable Cap Non-Shrinking Visor size label.
Special thanks to RL for this contribution to the archive 
  

Free & Easy #10 October 2010

It was privilege to grace page 078 in the October 2010 issue #10 of the seminal Japanese fashion and culture magazine Free & Easy.  As part of the Blue Worker feature, I was in good company along with local custom boot craftsman Julian Imrie. More on Julian in the post to follow. 
   

Photo outake courtesy of Akilla Kojima

Photo outake courtesy of Akilla Kojima

I thought I would provide a few details on what I was wearing, the process & such.

I was contacted by F&E and asked if I had carpenter jeans, coverall jacket & overalls to be used for the next issue which would focus on Denim. I replied that I did and that carpenter jeans were part of my daily wardrobe. They then asked for engineer jackets of which I told them I had many. Finally, I was asked for overalls with real wear & character, which I just happened to have though not currently part of my weekly rotation. I have owned this particular pair of Lee Jelt denim overalls for about 6 years. I used to wear them on the job once or twice a week before either they shrank or I grew, so now they only get broken out once or twice a year while painting. I would have preferred to wear some carpenter jeans and a great jacket but hopefully another chance will present itself in the future. Not wanting to miss this golden opportunity, I gladly squeezed into the overalls and headed off to work.

I was working on some drip irrigation in Burbank, California the morning the photos were taken. I remember it being about 11:00 AM and the temp already hitting 98 degrees, oh man, that pool was looking good.

After the shoot I changed into my carpenter jeans, handed the overalls and a few of my tools off to Akilla to take and photograph under better conditions and finished up my work on the drip system.

This is what I was wearing.

Ghost tag (stitching that held the original flasher)

Lee long L snap & original  brass laundry tag 

1950’s Lee Jelt denim 91-SB overalls

1950’s Washington Dee Cee convert cloth salt & pepper work shirt

Backside label

Loomed inside tag, note Made in the USA.

1996 RRL Made in USA salt & pepper work cap. This salt & pepper work cap is the first piece of Double RL that I purchased back around 1996 and to this day is still a favorite. I was the beginning of my love for the iconic label and all things salt & pepper fabric related.

1950’s era OshKosh promotional bandanna. I have become a big time fan of bandannas these past few years for both wiping my brow & for soaking in cold water for instant cool down on hot days. This Osh Kosh version was picked up a few years ago as deadstock and had recently been added to the rotation.

All Valley Handyman Service tee shirt. The All Valley Handyman Service tees are American Apparel hand screened here in Southern California and feature the backside inspirational quote by Carhartt clothing founder Hamilton Carhartt, with who I share the same basic concept of how to run my business. 

Big thanks to Jonathan & crew of Fresh Pressed for all their great work.

Red Wing Iron Ranger 8112 boots. These have been my daily work boot for the past year give or take and are holding up great. The smooth cork sole is ideal for not trapping dirt or rocks like a lug sole and wears much better than the crepe soles. I also like these boots for their wide toe box that provides plenty of room. Some of my Irish Setter type Moc-Toe boots are a bit cramped & claustrophobic.

 THORLOs are the best socks I have ever worn. They make a huge difference when standing on your feet for a good part of the day. A great example of value for your dollar & quality that lasts, not to mention still proudly made in the U.S.A. They also have the nicest customer service ever and free shipping with purchase of 3 pair or more. I even seem to recall them having a yearly sale. Support their good work! 

I have worn Persol sunglasses for over 10 years, so last year when the time came to get prescription glasses these Persols with transition lenses were my first choice.

I recently converted this pair of new old stock Persol sunglasses to prescription lenses so now I’m covered both inside & out.

 Leather tool bag. My alternative to the conventional tool belt to hold the basics.

Big thanks to Zip Stevenson for the hook up, Akilla Kojima for the nice photos & the folks at Free & Easy for the great magazine.