Chaqueta de vuelo tipo A-2 Perry Sportswear de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, arte nasal del Pato Donald “They’ve Got the Guts”, piel de caballo, talla 40

Property from a private aviation and wartime art collection: a U.S. Army Air Forces A-2 produced by Perry Sportswear at the height of the Second World War, its back painted “They’ve Got the Guts” with Donald Duck paratroopers descending beneath an aircraft. Regulation leather became a record of humor, morale and survival.

The Piece

Few objects capture the emotional texture of wartime life as vividly as a painted flight jacket. This A-2, produced by Perry Sportswear during the Second World War, is both functional military attire and an intimate expression of identity; its leather, aged and softened through decades, bears witness to time in a way no untouched artifact could.

The back panel carries the composition “They’ve Got the Guts”: an aircraft with a trio of descending figures rendered in Disney's Donald Duck style, suggesting troop-drop imagery linked to Airborne and Troop Carrier Command themes. The slogan reads as a salute to paratroopers, bomber crews and the men who jumped into uncertainty. The front continues the narrative with a hand-painted Donald Duck wartime combat motif in a circular panel, connecting the jacket to the morale-art traditions widely adopted by aircrews and paratrooper units.

During WWII, Disney Studios collaborated with U.S. military units, producing insignia, patches and morale imagery, and Donald Duck, chaotic yet resilient, became a stand-in for the American serviceman: frustrated, determined, relentless. The jacket sits where war met animation, fear met humor and regulation met individuality.

Perry Sportswear contracts are known for a slightly heavier hide feel than some contemporaries, clean wartime stitching and the balanced silhouette typical of early A-2 specification runs. Perry is a respected mid-tier contract maker, often overlooked beside Rough Wear or Dubow. With its multi-panel artwork and the crossover it holds between WWII militaria, Disney wartime artifacts and A-2 collecting, this is part uniform, part illustration and part emotional artifact of the twentieth century's defining conflict.

Details

• Maker: Perry Sportswear Co. (early to mid WWII contract producer)
• Model: U.S. Army Air Forces Type A-2 flight jacket
• Era: Circa 1942–1943 (peak wartime issue window)
• Material: Horsehide, wartime finish, now oxidized with surface breakdown
• Color: Seal brown, aged to a warm russet-chocolate tone
• Size: 40 (tag present)
• Hardware: Period zipper, functional; tape repair noted; slider possibly replaced
• Unit attribution: Air Transport / Troop Carrier Command lineage (visual, from patch evidence)
• Artwork: Front: hand-painted Donald Duck combat motif in a circular panel. Back: “They’ve Got the Guts”, aircraft with paratrooper Donald trio
• Provenance: Property from a private aviation & wartime art collection

Condition

• Condition consistent with genuine wartime use; a display-grade wearable artifact.
• Surface coating breakdown and aging to the horsehide; the leather remains supple.
• Wear to the lining and loss to the collar lining, consistent with decades of neck abrasion.
• Evidence of repairs and interior modifications, from field or postwar repair culture.
• Knit cuffs replaced.
• Zipper functional, with tape repair noted and the slider possibly replaced.

Authenticity & Care

A period WWII Perry Sportswear contract example; the front and back Disney wartime motifs are presented as original hand-painting, and the unit attribution rests on visual patch evidence only. Every piece is examined and documented in Japan before dispatch and is offered with the Japonista authenticity guarantee.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Returns follow our published policy.

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