For Mike B

[Jareth]

Vests !

[Geoff Ward]

WoW! Thats a LOT of LUCK!! Nice pic Jareth!

[RussM]

Cool pic!

The three that can be seen clearly look very nearly identical except for the placement of the coins.

I wonder if this was a standard design like some senninbari's belts?

Regards

Russ

[MichaelB]

Jareth-
That's a great image! I know that I have never seen that one before- thank you so much for posting it here.

Russ-
That's a really good observation, and based upon the examples that Jareth has posted in this thread, I would have to say yes, probably. These appear to be the thinner white cotton version that I have noticed before. The red sun is normally just sewn over the outside of the cotton backing rather than having the round circle cut out, then added back with red material. Since the examples here appear to have a common slogan embroidered beneath the sun, my guess is that they were a pre-printed variety, as Russ surmises. I have seen a number of this kind of vest, but they are normally empty of writing, containing only the sun. Interesting too that the ones we see here have similar coins sewn into the same positions. The only other thing I have noted is that similar vests have come in either a button down front (2-3 buttons), but more often they seem to be of a rather basic construction, fastened in the front with tie strings. Most vests I own and most that I see in the photo evidence seem to be more heavily made with extra padding and layers for the cold weather in China, Korea, and Manchuria. In fact, catalogs that show available private purchase clothing, show these vests for sale. Like many things we see, soldiers, sailors and airmen, might then modify, personalize with art, writing, etc. the vest. I'm sure that friends or family members may have also embellished and then gifted various pieces. As a side note, whether these were worn in the Pacific, I can't say. Senninbari vests and their senninriki cousins are pretty darn interesting!
MichaelB

[Jareth]

Another great photo

[MichaelB]

That's another nice photo Jareth! You can see the straps passing underneath the arms of both guys wearing the vests. These are most likely the "tie string" in the front rather than the "button" in the front type. Cool!
MichaelB

[Jareth]

Glad you like them Mike. Don't own them. Found on the net