Vintage Coach Photos & Chat

[Ravvie99]

My bag is British Tan made in 1997. I did see your post about the clips, I just hadn't looked into it yet. Looks like that would be an easy solution. Thanks!

Whateve gave me the same extender advice and I think that solution works great & blends right in. I like Tandy's smaller 3/8” size, as it’s less obtrusive and doesn't compete with the original hardware. Just need a second one to get another inch. Thanks, Whateve!

 

[itscindylou]

Whateve gave me the same extender advice and I think that solution works great & blends right in. I like Tandy's smaller 3/8” size, as it’s less obtrusive and doesn't compete with the original hardware. Just need a second one to get another inch. Thanks, Whateve!

View attachment 3440336

Thanks for the photo. I was wondering what it would look like. That does look nice.

 

[Couturexec]

Did someone just get that black Rambler for $49?

ETA:https://www.ebay.com/itm/252501623877

 

[whateve]

Did someone just get that black Rambler for $49?

ETA:https://www.ebay.com/itm/252501623877

Darn! It's never me!

 

[Couturexec]

Darn! It's never me!

I'm having such remorse!!! I should have pulled the trigger. I was trying to show restraint. We sat down to eat dinner and I had to get right back on when dinner was done! And it was gone!!
I'm telling myself I already have a mahogany one....

 

[Couturexec]

It was the "good" Rambler, too!

 

[RL Bernstein]

I'm having such remorse!!! I should have pulled the trigger. I was trying to show restraint. We sat down to eat dinner and I had to get right back on when dinner was done! And it was gone!!
I'm telling myself I already have a mahogany one....

Vacillator's remorse is sometimes even worse than the buyer's variety. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've regretted stopping to think, or worse yet, pausing to investigate when something looks to be too good to be true (ie. the $60 red Attache that I lost out on to someone with swifter fingers when finalizing checkout). I'll keep my fingers crossed that another equivalent bargain avails itself to you soon.

 

[Couturexec]

Vacillator's remorse is sometimes even worse than the buyer's variety. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've regretted stopping to think, or worse yet, pausing to investigate when something looks to be too good to be true (ie. the $60 red Attache that I lost out on to someone with swifter fingers when finalizing checkout). I'll keep my fingers crossed that another equivalent bargain avails itself to you soon.

"Ain't that the truth."

It wasn't on my current short list anyway. (Just keep saying it until I believe it.)

 

[Couturexec]

I hope someone loves it, wears it and leaves the pens at home. I'd hate to see it flipped like your Duffle Sac. Grrrrr.

 

[Couturexec]

I'm not sure of the proper color name, hunter green, dark green, bottle green? Is it my imagination or do there seem to be less bags in this color that were made in the USA? Was this a later color?

 

[robin0714]

Vacillator's remorse is sometimes even worse than the buyer's variety. Can't begin to tell you how many times I've regretted stopping to think, or worse yet, pausing to investigate when something looks to be too good to be true (ie. the $60 red Attache that I lost out on to someone with swifter fingers when finalizing checkout). I'll keep my fingers crossed that another equivalent bargain avails itself to you soon.

 

[robin0714]

I am regretting not bidding more on a beautiful pre-9085 burgundy duffel sac yesterday. It was in great condition and I have been looking for a NYC burgundy one for months. If it makes you feel better R L Bernstein, the red diplomat was bought by me, not a flipper, and it is in horrible condition. I applied conditioner and it wasn't sinking in. So I tried rinsing it off with water and red Paint? polish? starting rinsing off. Under the red whatever it was, is cracked, dry leather. I ended up giving it a shower-mini bath and have applied leather oil to sink in. It still looks awful and I can't believe someone ruined such a beautiful bag by neglect or polish. I'm going to post pics in the rehab section for suggestions, but it is totally unusable as it is.

 

[whateve]

I'm not sure of the proper color name, hunter green, dark green, bottle green? Is it my imagination or do there seem to be less bags in this color that were made in the USA? Was this a later color?

Forest was made in the late 80s/early 90s. In the mid to late 90s came bottle green, which is lighter than forest. There was also an ivy made for the Lightweights (89-92) and Sonoma (90s.) All of the darker greens made before 1994 were made in the US.

 

[Couturexec]

Forest was made in the late 80s/early 90s. In the mid to late 90s came bottle green, which is lighter than forest. There was also an ivy made for the Lightweights (89-92) and Sonoma (90s.) All of the darker greens made before 1994 were made in the US.

Thank you Whateve. I should have a chance to wait it out then. Sounds like I just need to be patient.

 

[RL Bernstein]

I am regretting not bidding more on a beautiful pre-9085 burgundy duffel sac yesterday. It was in great condition and I have been looking for a NYC burgundy one for months. If it makes you feel better R L Bernstein, the red diplomat was bought by me, not a flipper, and it is in horrible condition. I applied conditioner and it wasn't sinking in. So I tried rinsing it off with water and red Paint? polish? starting rinsing off. Under the red whatever it was, is cracked, dry leather. I ended up giving it a shower-mini bath and have applied leather oil to sink in. It still looks awful and I can't believe someone ruined such a beautiful bag by neglect or polish. I'm going to post pics in the rehab section for suggestions, but it is totally unusable as it is.

Glad to hear that it found an appreciative home (the second time around), but how disappointing to learn of the sorry state of that Attache. I really do hope that you will be able to breathe some life back into it. Sounds as though someone applied color-creamed to disguise the degraded, dry leather conditions, though I will share with you that the red used on bags or that era isn't always as colorfast as you'd imagine, even when using a mild soap-water solution. And unfortunately if a non-breathable surface coating was used, that would only have accelerated the drying out of the underlying leather.

Regrettably, many of the mid-1960s designs made using thinner leather stock (to enable tightly turned edges) were not tolerant of lapses in care, especially failure to regularly moisturize. I cannot begin to tell you about how disheartened I get when I discover the beginnings of edge cracks that someone has tried to hide. And as the old shoemaker I go to for advise reminds me when I show him something that stretches even my optimism (and is probably beyond help): it's the kiss-of-death once leather reaches a certain dryness. He keeps an ancient pair of shoes that are as brittle as a potato chip to drive that lesson home.

Coincidentally, I've a project I'm working on that will in all likelihood require the addition of a thin strip of edge binding (glued and sewn) to reinforce a turned edge that has multiple cracks in it. Between the skiving, creasing, color-matching, gluing, and sewing, there's plenty of work. Candidly, I'm not sure that the bag is worth the effort value-wise, but it would bother me to lose a piece of history without at least making a rescue attempt.

Good luck with you own effort to rehab the Attache. And don't be surprised if you have to make a new bottom panel for it as the original fabric-wrapped cardboard one is prone to having issues.
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