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Back in the early days of motorcycling (circa 1920’s), some of the very first motorcycle jackets were actually military or aviator style jackets with buttons down the front and a short collar, sometimes referred to as a ‘mandarin collar’ characteristic of the era. Many of the popular styles were constructed of brown goatskin leather and were of a short design with a fitted waist, similar to the pre-WWII Army Air Corps jackets. Another popular material for these early jackets was horsehide. This thick, tough leather was in plentiful supply due to the Army Cavalry and many farmers, who used horses as work animals prior to the widespread availability of tractors, supplying these hides to the clothing industry.
The first company to market the classic leather motorcycle jacket was Schott Bros. who began producing the legendary ‘Perfecto’ jacket in 1928. They were soon joined by The Joseph Buegeleisen company, in Chicago, who started out in 1933 making motorcycle saddlebags and accessories, then began making motorcycle jackets in the 1940’s, these were commonly known as ‘Buco’ jackets.
Several motorcycle manufacturers also produced their own line of jackets. Indian Motorcycles had one model of jacket each for men and women, the ‘Ranger’ and ‘Rangerette’ respectively, with the Rangerette having the pocket and zipper opposite the mens model. Both jackets were produced throughout the 1940’s until the closing of the company in 1953 due to bankruptcy.
Harley Davidson Motorcycles, which started back in 1910, began offering it’s own line of motorcycle jackets in the 1940’s. Their “Cycle Champ” men’s jacket and “Cycle Queen” ladies jacket were considered the very definition of style and function by motorcycle enthusists of the time. Harley also originated the holster-shaped pocket design (often refered to as Pistol Pockets) which was later adopted by many other motorcycle jacket makers including Beck, Buco, Hercules, and even Sears and Roebuck up through the 1960’s.
Some early jackets even had a large side-zipped pocket on the back, similar to that on many ‘hunting’ coats. But alas, this and a number of other creative and intriguing design elements were very labor intensive (and therefore costly) and had to be abandoned due to fierce competition from non-motorcyclist sources during the early rock and roll period.
