RESEARCH & INFORMATION

CIVILIAN-PRODUCED SPOT / DUCKHUNTER PATTERN CAMOUFLAGE

As many of us know, there has been a lot of discrepancy and little or no documentation, in reference to the civilian produced spot pattern camouflage garments that were used during the early Advisory phase of the war in Southeast Asia. To fully document a pattern such as these, and even other camouflage patterns, I believe we need to meet 3 different criteria. They are:

1. A physical specimen of the garment itself.
2. Color photographic documentation from the period showing the garment in use.
3. Written documentation from and concerning the company's themselves who manufactured, imported and/or distributed the garments, which of course is the hardest of all to obtain.

The purpose of this month's issue is to shed some light on one of the manufacturers of these early war garments and the different variations in coloration and cut that they produced prior to 1960 and up until the mid-1960's.

Exhibit No. 1 is a photograph of the 1st Spot pattern garment made by Camouflage Manufacturing Co. of Jacksonville, Florida. Made of 100% cotton this 2 pocket shirt contained surplus WWII blackened metal 13 star buttons fastening the breast and 2 lower flapped pockets as shown. The matching trousers (Exhibit No. 1A) have 2 un-pleated cargo pockets set high upon the thigh along with waist adjustment tabs and a zipper fly-type closure. Exhibit 1B is an example of a locally made South Vietnamese short-billed cap that was made from a shirt or trouser. The mustard yellow coloration of these pre August 1960 garments were marked with a white cotton tag (Exhibit No. 1C) that contained the following information:

LOT NO. 1258-J
SANFORIZED
VAT-DYED
SIZE................S

In August of 1960, Camouflage Manufacturing Co. applied for a Registered Identification Number (RN) to the Federal Trade Commission of the United States and was issued RN 25334. Garments made by the company from 1960 onward will all posses this RN number on the tag. Exhibit No. 2 is a photograph of the 2nd type of garment made by the company and is documented in color photographs in the November 1962 issue of National Geographic. Construction is almost identical to the 1st type shirt with the exception of the addition of an open pocket upon the right breast along with the coloration of the garment and plastic buttons being used in place of the metal ones on some examples. The matching 4 pocket trousers (Exhibit No. 2A and 2B) (2 slash and 2 rear) have waist adjustment tabs and a zippered fly. It should also be noted that plain blackened metal buttons have been observed on some trousers. These 2nd type garments will also feature a white cardboard type paper tag (Exhibit No. 2C) on variations with metal buttons, and a white gauze backed paper tag (Exhibit No. 2D) on garments with plastic buttons that contains the following information.

100% COTTON
MFG.NO. 25334
SIZE
L

Garments possessing plastic buttons will have an RN 25334 in place of MFG. NO. 25334 on the nomenclature tag. Both of these types of tags were usually sewn to the outside of the garment along the seam line of a pocket and therefore are extremely hard to find intact on a garment including mint un-issued examples.

After 1960 and prior to 1964 the company produced the 3rd type (Exhibit No. 3) of this spot pattern garment. Although the cut remained basically the same on the shirts, the trousers (Exhibit No. 3A) did differ in construction with some examples having pleated cargo pockets set high upon the thighs. The coloration itself remained the same as on the 2nd type garments, but the nomenclature tags themselves were changed once again. This variation is documented in the March 23, 1963 issue of The Saturday Evening Post Magazine as well as several photographs in Eric Micheletti's book "SEAL's in Vietnam". These khaki/tan based color garments will feature a green/white/black silk woven tag (Exhibit No. 3B) that posses the following information:

100% COTTON L
GENUINE
KAMO
PRODUCT
MFG.NO. 25334

This is also the first time that the company started using the "KAMO" brand trademark in there garments.

All 3 variations of these garments were used during the war in Southeast Asia. A 4th variation garment was used in the early 70's, but its use seems to be confined to the Laotian theatre of operations only. It is easily identified by its dark green base color, plastic buttons and the silk woven tag which now possesses a fourth color, red, in it. Research is still pending in reference to this garment. At a later date, we will try and cover the Asian made spot pattern garments from Japan and Hong Kong that were privately manufactured during the late 1950's and early 1960's as well as the South Vietnamese National Police Field Force pattern and the infamous CIDG Leopard pattern. Both of the latter patterns actually fall into the category of spot pattern type garments that were issued within the ARVN military logistical system during the war.