{"id":5347,"date":"2019-11-14T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/?p=5347"},"modified":"2019-11-06T21:48:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T04:48:38","slug":"artifacts-from-american-fashion-the-eisenhower-jacket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/2019\/11\/14\/artifacts-from-american-fashion-the-eisenhower-jacket\/","title":{"rendered":"Artifacts from American Fashion: The Eisenhower Jacket"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Heather Vaughan Lee<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This post is one in a series that gives readers a sneak-peek into my new book <\/em>Artifacts from American Fashion<\/a> (Available November 30), as well as the research behind it. The book offers readers a unique look at daily life in twentieth-century America through the lens of fashion and clothing.<\/em> It covers<\/em> forty-five essential articles of fashion or accessories, chosen to illuminate significant areas of twentieth-century American daily life and history, including Politics, World Events, and War; Transportation and Technology; Home and Work Life; Art and Entertainment; Health, Sport, and Leisure; and Alternative Cultures, Youth, Ethnic, Queer, and Counter Culture. Through these artifacts, readers can follow the major events, social movements, cultural shifts, and technological developments that shaped our daily life in the U.S.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Olive drab \u201cEisenhower\u201d U.S. Army Field jacket, worn by Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II and was made sometime between 1944 and 1947. Kansas Historical Society, 1983.3975.1.1 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Eisenhower jacket (also known as the M-44, the \u201cIke\u201d Jacket, ETO jacket (European Theater of Operations) and officially, the \u201cWool Field Jacket M-1944\u201d) was first issued by the Army in November 1944 . It had been developed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) and his tailor, Sgt. Michael Popp (1905-1968)<\/strong> during World War II (1939-1945). The Jacket became standard issue and along with other military clothing, inspired civilian clothing and uniform styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (63-92) https:\/\/prologue.blogs.archives.gov\/2014\/11\/11\/the-ike-jacket\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Eisenhower and his tailor, Sgt. Michael Popp (1905-1968), redesigned the standard field jacket into something more practical and attractive. Lacking proper pattern paper, Sgt. Popp had used bedsheets to make the early drafts of the jacket (\u201cA Blouse for Ike.\u201d <\/em>1951, 3). It was completed in March of 1943. It would become \u201ca coveted jacket popularized by one of the war’s most-photographed personalities\u201d (Blount 2001). Eisenhower was so pleased with the job Sgt. Popp had done that he awarded him a bronze star (\u201cA Blouse for Ike.\u201d 1951, 3). Popp remained on Eisenhower\u2019s staff until he was discharged in December 1945.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA Blouse for Ike.\u201d1951. Dayton Daily News <\/em>(Dayton, Ohio) 24 Jun, 3. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/402234982\/?terms=Popp%2BEisenhower<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In June 1951, Popp noticed that Eisenhower was still wearing his old uniforms and designed him a Summer new one (using measurements from memory). The jacket was to be hand-delivered by Popp’s wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a month later, Ike’s gratitude for the gift was reported in the local newspaper, with an additional note that “Sgt. Popp doesn’t know it, but I’m a little bigger around the waist than I was during World War II. I may have to reduce a little.” (\u201cIke to Reduce to Fit Suit.\u201d 1951)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army continued to issue the Ike jacket until 1956, when they began phasing it out, and was completely gone from inventory by October 1960 (Parkinson 2014). After President Dwight D. Eisenhower died in 1969, he was buried in an M-44 jacket in Abilene, Kansas (Parkinson 2014). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can learn more about the Ike jacket, military uniforms, and how military dress influenced both mens and women’s fashion during wartime, in <\/em>Artifacts from American Fashion<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, now available for pre-order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Blouse for Ike.\u201d 1951. Dayton Daily News <\/em>(Dayton, Ohio) 24 Jun, 3. Accessed October 30, 2018. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/402234982\/?terms=Popp%2BEisenhower<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIke to Reduce to Fit Suit.\u201d 1951. Dayton Daily News<\/em>. July 1. Pg 78. Accessed October 30, 2018. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/402227463\/?terms=Popp%2BEisenhower<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJacket Uniform.\u201d\nN.d. Kansas Historical Society. Accessed October 30, 2018. http:\/\/www.kshs.org\/museum\/musobjs\/view\/307342<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blount, Jim.\n2001. \u201cMichael Popp, Hamilton tailor, created popular Eisenhower jacket.\u201d Journal-News<\/em> (Ohio) Wednesday, July 4.\nAccessed October 29, 2018. http:\/\/www.20thcenturygi.com\/index.php?topic=145.0;wap2<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parkinson, Hilary. 2014. \u201cThe Ike Jacket.\u201d National Archives Pieces of History Blog. November 11. Accessed October 30, 2018. https:\/\/prologue.blogs.archives.gov\/2014\/11\/11\/the-ike-jacket\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heather Vaughan Lee is<\/a><\/strong> the founding author of Fashion Historia. She is an author and historian, whose work focuses on the study of dress in the late 19th through the 20th century. Covering a range of topics and perspectives in dress history, she is primarily known for her research on designer Natacha Rambova, American fashion history, and the history of knitting in America and the UK. Her forthcoming book, Artifacts from American Fashion<\/a><\/em><\/strong> is available for pre-order on Amazon (November 2019 from ABC-CLIO).  More posts by the Author \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Heather Vaughan Lee This post is one in a series that gives readers a sneak-peek into my new book Artifacts from American Fashion (Available November 30), as well as the research behind it. The book offers readers a unique look at daily life in twentieth-century America through the lens of fashion and clothing. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,6,88,1],"tags":[407,402,404,408,401,406,400,403,405,152],"coauthors":[247],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5347"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionhistorian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}