The Fishtail Parka

The Parka, ‘invented' by the Caribou Inuit -  descendants of an interior Eskimo culture - was originally made from furs. The design was then introduced into the US military between 1947 & 1950 where they created a jacket for cold weather combat, they are big & roomy as they were designed to be worn over battle dress.

There are many other Parkas models such as the N-3B aka the snorkel parka named so as the hood can be zipped right up leaving only a small tunnel or snorkel for the wearer to look out of, the shorter version, the N-2B had a split hood. These N-3B Parkas were mainly for flight crews stationed in extremely cold areas with temperatures as low as −50 °C. Snorkel Parkas became a 1970’s favourite in the UK..( my experience) for schoolchildren because of the snorkel feature and maybe because of the bright orange inner lining (it was my favourite because of those 2 features & I still have the N-2B)

The Fishtail Parka nicknamed by US GIs for its er fishtail look..the tail is located at the back and can be folded up between the legs using press studs fixing it at the front for warmth or folded away at the back to provide freedom of movement, very similar to the German design on the Knochensack (bonesack, is this a reference to something else??) which was the nickname for German parachute jump smocks designed to be worn over a paratrooper's equipment.

Models

EX- 48 - The prototype was made of poplin material, in this case cotton poplin but can be wool or silk too, with a thin fibre glass based liner, wool lined pockets and a real fur collar from coyote, wolf or wolverine. In later models the outer shell was a thicker sateen cotton, it also had a distinctive pocket on the left sleeve with a two buttons cuffs, unique to the EX-48 & M-48.

M-48 - M for military & number is the year the model was standardised. The difference between the EX-48 is this model had a wool pile liner which had a built in chest pocket & an integral hood liner also made of wool.

M-51 - The first Parka used by Mods with a one cuff button & made of heavy sateen cotton with a heavy wool liner, in later versions this came with a mohair based liner & cotton poplin shel, this was a 3 piece parka designed with varying temperatures in mind & easier cleaning as the main liner & hood liner detached from the outer shell of the jacket. 

M-65 - An updated version had a synthetic fur detachable hood 1965- 72 - Real fur in '72 for 1 year.. the liner was removable & quilted made of Newley created materials, light nylon & polyester. The M-65 fishtail parka confusingly was first produced in 1968..

The M51 was the first adopted Fishtail Parka by Mods in the late 1950s - early 60’s - some with the RAF roundel or Union Jack on the back - to keep their tailor made suits clean on their Vespas & Lambrettas. 🛵❤️