Trench Coat by Tunmer (The Stars and Stripes, 1918)
The raglan sleeve, gaberdine trench coat made by Tunmer was yet another of the many choices made available to the officers of the Entent Cordiale.
Trench Coats
Trench Coat by Gamage (The Stars and Stripes, 1918)
Comprising the latest improvements for overseas -The Trench Coat ‘De Luxe’!
Trench Coat by Barker (The Stars and Stripes, 1918)
Yet another action-posed advertisement for an officer’s private purchase trench coat. The Great Military Outfitter, John Barker and Company, stepped up to the plate during the crises of 1914 and began to produce the famous ‘Kenbar’ trench coat:
Every detail so necessary for the most strenuous wear in the trenches is embodied in this excellent coat. The collar can be worn in four positions. The sleeves are made with reinforced elbows, and the skirt is cut full and fitted with cavalry gusset.
Trench Coat by Hitchinbrook (Army and Navy Stores, 1918)
Similar to the coat worn by English officers. Cut very full presenting an unusual swagger effect. Made of double texture, tan cashmere with twill lining. An extra, detachable, fleece interlining affords further protection against the cold… Full belt with slide buckle, and belt rings to which accessories may be attached. Absolutely waterproof. 48 inches in length.
One of the First Trench Coats for U.S. Civilians (Magazine Ad, 1917)
No doubt, the fashionable minds who sat so comfortably in America, far removed from the dung and destruction of the European war, would thumb through magazines such as Leslie’s, Collier’s or Current History looking for fashion’s newest thing. How pleased these fops must have been that the ink-stained photogravure boys didn’t let them down! The Brothers Guiterman in Minnesota must have been numbered among these macaronis because they seemed to have been the first to begin production of a trench coat intended solely for civilian production (although it must be remembered that during the war, trench coats were a private purchase item, available only to officers sold only by haberdashers and privately-owned military furnishing establishments).
A Trench Coat by Thresher and Glenny (The Stars and Stripes, 1918)
Let the word go out here and now to all stylists and fashion journalists as well as all the other assorted fops who like to play fast and loose with the language; we know who you are and we know your game. The term trench coat will not suffer the same abuse as the word Martini. Both have clear, lucid definitions; there can be no such thing as a chocolate Martini and those actors in the movie The Matrix were not wearing trench coats (they were wearing frocks). A quick waltz through this section illustrates well the characteristics shared by all Great War trench coats: they were double-breasted (although it is said single-breasted did exist), they must be belted, and they must be cut like a sac, and they must have wrist-straps. Raglan sleeves, storm patches and billows pockets were all optional -and most important: there were NO D rings, those were added later.
Trench Coat by Thresher and Glenny (The Stars and Stripes, 1918)
This ad proudly announces that the Thresher and Glenny trench coat pictured is like the one worn during the first winter of the war -those first brisk days along the river Marne when the Hun finaly understood that he would have to wait a bit longer for that Paris dinner.
Trench Coat by Sears (Sears and Roebuck Catalog, 1918)
Strikingly similar to the American Army officer’s 1912 great coat, Sears manufactured this cotton khaki trench coat in the same olive drab shade as the enlisted man’s slicker.
The Winter Trench Coat (Thresher and Glenny Catalog, 1918)
Illustrated pages from the Thresher and Glenny catalog showing how a blanket lining could be added to the trench coat in order to make the garment more suitable for winter campaigns. Also included in the advertisement were three glowing testimonials written by British officers who were simply bubbling over with excitement for their Thresher and Glenny trench coats.