Devil Bug

I recently picked up an early '50s leisure/lounge jacket that was so commonly seen throughout the 1940s and 1950s:


It has a great 'atomic fleck' fabric pattern.

click images to enlarge

Unfortunately the devil bug got to it before I did:




A good reweaver could do wonders with this jacket but the question is, would it be worth the price and effort?

Answers

Here are the answers to the little game in my previous post.

1.-1920s

2.-1920s

3.-1950s

4.-1920s

5.-1950s

6.-1950s

7.-1920s

I hope this game helped demonstrate that the modern perception of 'Atomic Fleck' is inaccurate.

While certain flecky fabrics were popular during the 1950s, those and similar fabrics predate the 'atomic' era. Actually, very few if any primary sources from the 1950s actually call 'Atomic Fleck' by that name.

Even so, the name and category of Atomic Fleck is in common usage today and can be very useful in defining and expressing a particular fabric pattern from a specific time period. Unfortunately it is often unknowningly misused to describe pre-Atomic Fleck fabric patterns.

Not So Atomic Fleck 2

A continuation of the first part of this discussion.

Having looked through several hundred suit fabric samples dating from the late-teens to the early-1960s, I've noticed that the popular 1950s "Atomic Fleck" was around long before it ever came under that name. My 'study' has shown that extremely similar fleck patterns can be found as early as the late-teens.

To demonstrate this, let's play a game.
Below are 7 fabric samples that could be considered Atomic Fleck. Some of these samples date from the early 1920s while the rest date from the 1950s. They are all disorganized and it is your task to identify from which era each sample comes. Let's see if we can tell what is 'real' Atomic Fleck and what is not. Leave your guesses in the comments.
Good luck.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Not So Atomic Fleck

The 1950s is famous for it's so-called 'Atomic Fleck' fabric, as it should be.




But the so-called 'atomic' fleck predates the Second World War.

Check out these fabrics and the advertisement, all from the 1930s. Ah, the 1930s: pinnacle of fabric during the 20th century.

click to enlarge

So, even in the past "what is old is new again".