My 2021 red riding jacket, with snaps circa 1935

Snaps used to tighten cuff of new jacket are 86 years old.

Woe is me. The yellow jacket I like to wear when I ride my Royal Enfield motorcycle is "worn out." 

That's what I wrote in 2013. Being the sort of stubborn person I am, I have milked another 12 years of riding out of that yellow jacket!

But now, torn and dirty, it's disgraceful. It never was a "motorcycle jacket," being just light-weight, 100 percent Nylon. I also own three proper leather motorcycling jackets, with armor. But the light weight and vented Nylon jacket was about all I could stand to wear during Florida summers.

Now I have a new riding jacket. It's red.

Surprisingly, replacing the yellow jacket resulted in an odd historical side trip down memory lane. It summoned up artifacts of the Depression years, and Redditch, England, original home of Royal Enfield motorcycles.

To understand, you have to know why I would favor a loud, yellow jacket while riding my stately, vintage looking Royal Enfield Bullet.

The yellow jacket was well made, being from Lands End, and the fantastic thing was the number of pockets.  Not only were there big, zippered side pockets, but there was a wide "fanny pack" zippered pocket built across the inside back of the jacket.

My 2013 item was entitled "Does this jacket make my butt look big?" because I stuffed a scarf and folding plastic backpack into that back pocket.

What could be handier, I thought, then to have a back pack in your jacket in case you bought something while out riding and needed a way to carry it home? Very handy indeed. (I never used that backpack.)

The side pockets swallowed three clean rags for roadside repairs, a mini-bungee cord, extra ear plugs and a spark plug.

One especially handy feature of the old jacket was the Velcro on the cuffs that allowed me to tighten them up once the jacket was on. This kept the wind from blowing my sleeves half way up my arm, as happens with looser light jackets.

The yellow jacket's replacement is another Lands End light-weight windbreaker, in red. It's vented, and has zippered side pockets but, sadly, no fanny pack style rear pocket. And no Velcro on the cuffs.

I have to have the cuffs tight, so I conned my wife into getting out her sewing kit and adding snaps inside each cuff of the red jacket, to allow me to shut out the slipstream.

This is where the stroll into the past began.

"Where did you get these?" I asked, pointing to her package of snaps.

National Recovery Administration logo is in corner.

"That's the insignia of the National Recovery Administration!" I said.

"It was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935! This package of snaps has to be from the 1930s!"

Bonnie explained that she found the snaps in our house when we bought it from the estate of the original owners.

And that wasn't all she'd found. Along with the snaps were packages of fine sewing needles made in Redditch.

Needle making in Redditch, England eventually led to motorcycle making.

Of course, my wife knew that Redditch is the ancestral home of Royal Enfield motorcycles. She didn't know that Royal Enfield itself sprang from George Townsend's needle works, established in Redditch in 1851. The successful needle maker took on production of other products and began making complete bicycles in 1888. The first motorcycle appeared in 1901.

At one point 90 percent of the world's needles were made in Redditch.

As for the NRA (not to be confused with the National Rifle Association), President Franklin Roosevelt established the National Recovery Administration in 1933. The agency's eagle insignia and the motto "We Do Our Part" began to appear on U.S. products as manufacturers signed up to help fight the Depression.

"We Do Our Part" meant businesses joined to fight the Depression.
(National Recovery Administration logo in Library of Congress)

The intention was to encourage consumers to buy products from companies that set fair prices and paid fair wages.  Any product without the "blue bird" would be seen as not cooperating in the national emergency, and might even be boycotted.

The idea was so popular that the owner of the Philadelphia football team renamed it the "Eagles" to refer to the agency logo.

The Supreme Court pulled the plug on FDR's NRA in 1935, about the same time it overturned other New Deal legislation. This prompted FDR to favor  "packing the court" by appointing more, and more cooperative, Supreme Court justices.

It didn't happen, but FDR's 1937 threat to do so still comes up every time the idea of adding justices is proposed.

My new Nylon riding jacket may be inappropriate in vintage look as well as in safety. But the snaps on the cuffs are straight out of the 1930s, sewn on with needles from Redditch. What a coincidence.

Does this motorcycle jacket make my butt look big?

My riding jacket makes my butt look big.

I own a proper leather jacket, proudly embossed with "Royal Enfield" on the breast pocket. So why do I choose to wear a plastic yellow jacket when I ride my Royal Enfield?

Why would anyone choose to ride a deliberately retro-looking motorcycle yet dress like he's on a — sniff — Honda?

It's not so much that I used to own a Honda. And it's not just that yellow is the International Color for Chicken, although I do like the visibility afforded by the bright jacket.

The thin nylon jacket offers close to zero protection in a fall. On the plus side, it's comfortable in humid Florida weather, with vents under the arms that can be unzipped to provide cooling to the all-important arm pits.

It's real downfall, however, is that it has a zippered pouch across the back that I found convenient for holding my scarf (for cold mornings) and a small fabric backpack in case I unexpectedly decide to bring something home.

This built in fanny pack makes my butt look big. I admit it.

The jacket is by Lands' End. It's worn out now and I would replace it with the same thing but, as far as I can determine, it's out of production.

I promise its replacement will look more suitable for Royal Enfield motorcycling.

Now if I would only do something about the white sneakers....

You design these Rocker-style leather jackets

Royal Enfield patch available from Michael Woulfe.

Brit-style motorcycle patches adorn Michael Woulfe's custom leather jackets and clip bags (purses). He buys the purses and jackets and carefully (very carefully) sews on the classic decorations and adds studs, to your design.

He'll work on your jacket and will even put a patch on your Converse tennis shoes (a surprisingly great look).

The dedicated "Rocker" enthusiast has expanded his catalog since the last time I wrote about him. I got to see his latest custom jackets on display at the Dania Beach Vintage Motorcycle Show last month.

Checkerboard racing ribbon also looks great on sleeves.

The big news is that he has an astounding new variety of patches available (including one for Royal Enfield motorcycles). Woulfe also found a supplier for the checkerboard racing stripe he has incorporated into some jackets. It really pulls the design together.

Woulfe's Rocker Jackets website explains how he opens the lining of jackets before sewing the patches and attaching the studs, so none of the work is visible inside the jacket. The patches are glued, as well as sewn. They don't look like they'll be coming off anytime soon.

New, too, are his custom decorated leather "Café Girl" purses. You can supply your own patch for the purse or choose from the 200 he has in stock.

Custom studs and café racer patch decorate clip bag.

Woulfe wants to work with customers on designing the jackets. He showed me how intricate some of this can be, particularly when it comes to positioning studs. Woulfe does his stitching on two vintage Singer sewing machines; he displays as much affection for them as for his motorcycles.

He says he became interested in the Rockers in 2002; he enjoyed explaining what some of the patches mean to people who visited his booth at the Dania Beach show. There's quite a lot of history involved.

Michael Woulfe in one of his own jackets.

But, in the end, it's all about the look of what Woulfe calls "the Original American rocker jacket."

"Let's get creative," Woulfe's website urges. "Send me a sketch by email with your ideas and we'll get started."

Woulfe is based in South Florida, where he is a radio newsman. But he has worked on jackets with international customers. You can email him at m.woulfe@comcast.net