What type winter Coat did you usually wear as a teen?

Radrook

Radrook

Senior Member
Location
USA
During most of my teenage years I usually wore a black trench coat. Considered it was cool. It was in style in our Newark New Jersey Essex County neighborhood in what was then the Columbus Homes Apartments.

. I would still wear one now if I could find one. Very versatile. Just unzip the insulation as the weather starts getting warmer. Big pockets to carry all kinds of teenage stuff. In my case it was my lucky rabbit's foot, apartment keys, packet of cigarettes, self defense weapon, candy, such as chewing gum and Jaw Breakers, (Remember those?) and some money. No, I never had a wallet until I got much older. Darn! I miss those beautiful trench coats!
We were outside most of the time and not behind some computer pressing keys. In short, we had what we called hangouts such as street corners, school gyms, housing project lobbies etc. So we wanted to blend in with our coats and not stand out in a non-cool quirky kind of way. A black trench coat did that for us.
 

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As a teen I had a bunch of winter coats/jackets. I had a navy blue pea coat which was a fave. I had a longer dark green woolen coat, a ski parka and a short fur jacket. I also had a long tweed coat which was very long and warm but I didn't like it very well. :):censored:
 
Living in Toronto, we had a variety of outer coats, depending on the season of the year. As a teen ager in the early 60's I had a Levi denim jacket with a woolen blanket inside lining for mild winter days. When it got really cold ( minus 20C) I had an ex Canadian Army winter parka, with a hood, and an extra zip in liner. That coat was medium green, not cammo. In the warmer months, a nylon zippered golf jacket. By the time I was 20 I had bought a dark blue overcoat made by Burberry, at a thrift store for $35. I wore that coat for a long time . JIM.
 
jimintoronto said:
Living in Toronto, we had a variety of outer coats, depending on the season of the year. As a teen ager in the early 60's I had a Levi denim jacket with a woolen blanket inside lining for mild winter days. When it got really cold ( minus 20C) I had an ex Canadian Army winter parka, with a hood, and an extra zip in liner. That coat was medium green, not cammo. In the warmer months, a nylon zippered golf jacket. By the time I was 20 I had bought a dark blue overcoat made by Burberry, at a thrift store for $35. I wore that coat for a long time . JIM.
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Is this it?​

Canadian Army 1950s Extreme Cold Weather Parka​

 
Mostly hand-me-downs from cousins, that I in turned passed down to siblings. Sometimes a coat from a thrift store and rarely something new.

These could vary from insulated barn coats to parkas to... whatever. Sometimes the top part of a snowsuit.
 
Radrook said:
Is this it?​

Canadian Army 1950s Extreme Cold Weather Parka​

Click to expand...
That coat is the Korean War issue winter coat. The identifier is the shape of the chest pockets, which were designed for the magazines that fit the .303 caliber Lee Enfield rifle rounds. The Canadian Army switched to the 7.62 millimeter FN C1 rifle in 1958, so my winter parka had slanted front chest pockets that were also bigger in size. The 303 magazines held 10 rounds, while the C1 7.62 magazines held 20 rounds. The side pockets of the newer coat also held 4 magazines for the C1 rifle for a total of 6 mags holding 120 rounds in total.

The parka that you showed does have a lot of similar features, like the large buttons that were easy to undo, even when wearing gloves, and the 2 directional zippers, which could be lubricated with a number HB2 lead pencil or candle wax. The snorkle hood is the same on both models, and both have a waist area inside drawstring to keep drafts out of the inside of the coat. Trivia bit. The large buttons on the arctic parka could be boiled in hot water, to create a beef broth, in an emergency situation. Later versions of the winter parka had the first velcro strip closures on Canadian military uniforms. This was around 1962. The current Canadian Forces disrupted pattern green Camo is a digitally created pattern that is patented by the Canadian Government. JIM.
 
jimintoronto said:
That coat is the Korean War issue winter coat. The identifier is the shape of the chest pockets, which were designed for the magazines that fit the .303 caliber Lee Enfield rifle rounds. The Canadian Army switched to the 7.62 millimeter FN C1 rifle in 1958, so my winter parka had slanted front chest pockets that were also bigger in size. The 303 magazines held 10 rounds, while the C1 7.62 magazines held 20 rounds. The side pockets of the newer coat also held 4 magazines for the C1 rifle for a total of 6 mags holding 120 rounds in total.

The parka that you showed does have a lot of similar features, like the large buttons that were easy to undo, even when wearing gloves, and the 2 directional zippers, which could be lubricated with a number HB2 lead pencil or candle wax. The snorkle hood is the same on both models, and both have a waist area inside drawstring to keep drafts out of the inside of the coat. Trivia bit. The large buttons on the arctic parka could be boiled in hot water, to create a beef broth, in an emergency situation. Later versions of the winter parka had the first velcro strip closures on Canadian military uniforms. This was around 1962. The current Canadian Forces disrupted pattern green Camo is a digitally created pattern that is patented by the Canadian Government. JIM.
Click to expand...
They actually made broth from the buttons? Was it tasty?
 
Radrook said:
They actually made broth from the buttons? Was it tasty?
Click to expand...
Not tasty, but as a last resort, it was better than killing a husky sled dog. Lets remember that Canada has a huge amount of arctic territory, and our Forces have to be prepared to defend it at any time. We take winter fighting very seriously. When I was Reserve soldier in the mid 1970's, we spent a lot of time on winter exercises living and fighting in sub zero temperatures for 3 weeks at a time. Summer patrolling was easy by comparison.

When the Canadian Forces went to Afghanistan, we had to mentally change gears, to adapt to fighting in a hot climate with mountains and semi desert terrain. That required a complete make over of our clothing and gear. Wearing green Camo in the desert was not a good idea. Our food rations had to be redesigned in terms of the daily caloric intake and the amount of liquids allotted to each person on a patrol was increased by 3 times what was previously issued. Working in extreme cold requires a lot of calories as much as 4000 a day per person. Working in the sand box, the temps could hit 50 C for weeks at a time, so heat stroke was a constant concern. Adapt to the conditions, and the terrain. JIM.
 
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