WWII USAAF A-2 Flight Jacket, Poughkeepsie Leather Coat 1942, 'Queen of Tarts' Pin-Up Back Paint, 29 Missions, Size 40

A Poughkeepsie A-2 from the great 1942 contract, its back given over to a varnished full-length pin-up reclining across a hand of hearts beneath 'Queen of Tarts', with about twenty-nine heart-topped bombs marking a heavy-bomber tour.

The A-2 in Its Last Season

The Type A-2 had served the American military aviator since 9 May 1931, when it was made standard to specification 94-3040, seal brown horsehide, and Drawing 30-1415. By the time America entered the war it was the jacket every flier wanted, and through 1942 the Army Air Forces placed a series of large orders to meet the demand of a service growing faster than any air arm in history.

Those 1942 contracts were the A-2's final flourish. In 1942 General H. H. 'Hap' Arnold cancelled further A-2 orders in favour of cloth jackets, and on 27 April 1943 the A-2 was made limited standard. The jackets already made were issued, worn and painted through the rest of the war, but the population was now fixed, and the mid-1942 mass contracts produced a large share of the A-2s that went to war with the heavy-bomber crews of 1943 and 1944.

The design those crews received had barely changed in a decade: a knitted waistband and cuffs to seal out the cold, two patch pockets with snap flaps, shoulder straps, a shirt collar fastened by a small hook, and a zip front that could be worked in gloves. It was warm enough for the cockpit, light enough for the ground, and smart enough to wear into town. Above all it was the visible mark of an airman, and that made it the natural place for a man to record who he was and what he had done.

Poughkeepsie Leather Coat, Contract 28560

The Poughkeepsie Leather Coat Company of Poughkeepsie, New York, held a single A-2 contract, W535-ac-28560, awarded in May 1942 and reported at around 50,000 jackets. Poughkeepsie labels are distinctive: a blue woven ground with gold lettering, carrying the type, the maker's name and 'Air Force U.S. Army'. On this jacket the maker's name and the size are legible, while the contract line is not readable, as the label is half detached.

The hide used on the contract has been debated for years. Gary Eastman, whose identification work underpins much of what collectors know about A-2 contracts, recorded cowhide on visual appraisal; DNA testing has been inconclusive; and goatskin was later approved for A-2 production generally. We therefore describe the leather simply as seal brown hide of the Poughkeepsie 1942 contract, hide type not confirmed. In the hand it has a slightly reddish seal brown tone and remains supple.

Pin-Ups as Morale Art

Painted jackets were never official. Squadron artists, sign painters, ground crew with a steady hand and paid local artisans turned issue leather into personal statements, often repeating the art from the nose of the crew's aircraft. Pin-ups dominated. To young men flying long, cold missions far from home, the painted girl was mascot, talisman and joke at once, and the best of the jacket artists rendered them with real skill.

Some owners protected their art with a coat of varnish. It is uncommon to find it, and it has a visible effect: the colours on this back have held their depth far better than those on most surviving painted A-2s, where the paint has dried, cracked and flaked away. The varnish speaks of a man who valued the work, and of an artist good enough to deserve it.

A painted back was also a diary. Mission markers were added one by one as the tour went on, so that the jacket grew with its wearer's war, and the bomb tally beneath a pin-up was often the most personal thing a crewman owned. Most of these jackets went home, were worn into civilian life, stored in attics and cupboards, and lost their paint to time and cleaning. A back that survives with its figure, its title and its full tally intact is a rare survivor of a folk art that was never meant to last.

The Queen of Hearts Made Some Tarts

The title is a pun with a long pedigree. 'The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts' is a traditional nursery rhyme, quoted by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the reference is reinforced by the hand of cards fanned beneath the figure: queen, jack, king and ace of hearts. 'Tart' also carried a second meaning in period slang, and the double entendre is exactly the kind of joke that fills the catalogue of wartime nose art.

The heart motif continues into the mission tally. Below the figure run about twenty-nine bomb symbols in two rows, twelve above and seventeen below, each crowned with a small red heart. In the Eighth Air Force the heavy-bomber tour was set at 25 missions, raised to 30 in spring 1944 and later to 35, so a count in the high twenties fits the pattern of a bomber crewman's tour. We have not been able to trace an aircraft named 'Queen of Tarts', and the unit remains unknown. An attribution to the European theatre has been suggested, but it is an opinion rather than a finding, and we do not assign one.

A Japanese Collection, Then and Now

This jacket came from an American collector into a Japanese collection around 2008, part of the long westward flow that has made Japan the world's most demanding market for original flight jackets. Japanese collectors and reproduction makers study painted originals with forensic attention, and pin-up backs of this standard are the reference pieces that the finest hand-painted reproductions try to match. For a collector who owns one of those, this is the kind of original that defines the genre.

Japanese collecting culture also brings a particular respect for honest wear. A replaced zip, split knits and a torn lining are read in Japan as part of the jacket's biography rather than as faults to be hidden, and the guiding principle is to conserve rather than restore. This jacket has been kept in that spirit, and we recommend that its next owner continue it.

The Piece

This is a size 40 Poughkeepsie A-2 with its blue and gold label, a reddish seal brown hide that remains supple, and a full-back pin-up that is, quite simply, among the finest pieces of jacket art we have offered. A blonde in blue reclines across a fanned hand of hearts beneath 'Queen' and 'Of Tarts' lettered in red with a yellow outline; below, two rows of heart-topped bombs, about twenty-nine in all. The figure is drawn with a professional's control of proportion and line, and the protective varnish has kept the colour unusually rich.

There are no marks of removed patches, so the back art is the jacket's whole statement. The waist knit is original, with some damage. The cuff knits are either original or period replacements and are badly split; they can be closed and stitched rather than replaced, which we would recommend for a jacket of this calibre. The zip is a later brass Talon, fitted in perhaps the 1950s, and works well.

The leather shows period wear at the neck, a small split along a seam at the left elbow and minor surface marks, and the lining is torn at the neck and right underarm. None of this touches the art, which is the reason this jacket exists in a collection. Unit unknown, maker confirmed, artwork exceptional. Size 40 in wartime sizing, the jacket can still be worn, but its proper place is on a padded hanger or in a display case, where the painted back can be seen in full. It is, in the truest sense, a piece of art that happens to be a jacket.

Details

• Type: Type A-2 leather flight jacket
• Maker: Poughkeepsie Leather Coat Co., Poughkeepsie, New York
• Contract / label: Blue and gold Poughkeepsie label, 'Air Force U.S. Army'; maker's only A-2 contract was W535-ac-28560 (May 1942); contract line not legible on this label, which is half detached
• Era: 1942, Second World War
• Leather / shell: Seal brown hide, slightly reddish; hide type not confirmed
• Hardware: Later brass Talon zip (c. 1950s replacement), working
• Lining & knits: Lining torn at neck and right underarm; waist knit original with some damage; cuff knits original or period replacements, badly split
• Decoration: Full-back varnished pin-up on a hand of hearts, 'Queen Of Tarts', about 29 heart-topped bomb mission markers (12 + 17); no removed-patch marks
• Tagged size: 40
• Measurements: Shoulder 44 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 50 cm · Sleeve 62 cm · Length 61 cm

Condition

• Back paint varnished and well preserved, with excellent colour
• Zip is a later Talon replacement, working
• Period wear to the leather at the neck; small seam split at the left elbow; minor surface marks
• Lining torn at the neck and right underarm
• Label half detached; contract line not legible
• Waist knit original with some damage; cuff knits badly split

Condition grade B on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The label, contract and size tags, leather, stitching, zip and hardware, paint and insignia are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Keep the painted back out of direct sun and away from heat, never apply conditioner over the varnished art, and support the jacket on a broad padded hanger.

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. 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.

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