Vintage Reversible Souvenir Jacket, Black & Navy Velveteen, Alaska Highway Embroidery, 1950s-60s Style, Size L
Vintage Reversible Souvenir Jacket, Black & Navy Velveteen, Alaska Highway Embroidery, 1950s-60s Style, Size L
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- United States · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $580, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Sizing
- Measured flat by hand, pit to pit and length, in centimetres · Find your size · Ask before you buy
- Character
- QuietResplendent Scoring underway ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Condition report
Excellent9.0 / 10
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
Condition notes
No stains or conspicuous damage; no repairs or hand-mending are recorded. Original ribbing, with no wear or holes to the cuffs or hem. Slight wear to the base of the back neck rib, left in its original state and photographed.
Assessed from photographs and descriptionReport dated 13 November 2026
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
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A reversible souvenir jacket in velveteen, black on one face and navy on the other, embroidered in chain stitch with the legend Alaska Highway and, on the reverse, a single moose. Size L, in good vintage condition.
The Piece
Souvenir jackets were stitched in Japan for travellers and servicemen in the years after the war, and most of them are satin. This one is cut from velveteen on both faces, which is far less common and which the maker clearly intended as a mark of distinction. The black side carries two seated figures in yellow parkas on the chest, a dog-sled team running down each sleeve, and across the back a wide arc of lettering reading Alaska Highway above the words Gateway to the North.
Turn it over and the navy face is quiet until you reach the back, where a moose in russet and pale blue thread fills the shoulders. There is no quilted padding, so the garment holds its shape without the settling that tends to trouble older padded jackets. The collar, cuffs and hem are finished in cream rib, and the zip closes cleanly on either side.
Measured flat: sleeve from centre back to cuff 83 cm (32.7 in), sleeve length from underarm 54 cm (21.3 in), body width 57 cm (22.4 in), length 59 cm (23.2 in). Every measurement is taken by hand with the piece laid flat, so please allow a gentle margin of about 1 to 3 cm (0.5 to 1 in).
Details
- Style: Reversible souvenir jacket, zip front
- Era: 1950s to 1960s style
- Fabric: Velveteen (velour) on both faces
- Colour: Black and navy, with cream rib
- Embroidery: Black face, Alaska Highway lettering, two figures and sled dogs; navy face, moose on the back
- Closure: Reversible zip, YKK stamped box with a Talon-type pull
- Size: L
- Sleeve, centre back to cuff: 83 cm (32.7 in)
- Body width: 57 cm (22.4 in)
- Length: 59 cm (23.2 in)
Condition
- No stains or conspicuous damage; no repairs or hand-mending are noted.
- Original ribbing, with no wear or holes to the cuffs or hem.
- Slight wear to the base of the back neck rib, left in its original state and photographed.
Condition grade A (excellent) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
The embroidery, the reversible zip and its stamped slider are all photographed in detail. Velveteen is best entrusted to a specialist cleaner, brushed gently along the pile, and stored on a wide hanger away from direct light.
Delivery from Japan
Packed by hand in Tokyo and shipped from Japan, insured and tracked, by EMS or an equivalent express service, arranged by our Tokyo, Japan concierge team. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.
Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally.
Continue with the latest arrivals or the guide to Japanese condition ranks.
Souvenir Jackets
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