My family has a house in the south of France where they often spend their holidays.
Last time I was there, which was end of December last year, I had a look in the attic above the garage.
We normally never come there as there are no stairs up to it and it's too low to stand straight, but I put a ladder up there and climbed up as I was curious. This isn't your normal rummage attic, it's really crappy, has only one window with no glass in it and the floor is basically just a bunch of old wood loosely laid over some wooden beams.
In between lots of bird and bat droppings, an old bottomless bucket and these big metal hoops that used to be used to construct wooden barrels with I found this really old leather pouch.
All I can say about it is that it's old, no clue how old exactly though.
The house was build in 1822, but the garage wasn't added till just after WWII and it has been empty ever till my family bought the house in 1990. It has been used as storage by the old neighbor, so there's also a possibility that it belonged to him, he had an accident with his moped (the only motorized thing he owed) around '87. From then the two houses were left abandoned till '90.
So it is the most likely that it ended up up there anytime between the 50's and 1987.
That's the closest I can get to dating it.
And about it's use I can also only guess, my father suggested that it was an ammo pouch used for hunting, as it has an inner flap to cover the content and it has just the size to fit hunting rifle shells. Also the farmers around our area are quite fond of hunting.
I didn't have time to restore it until about a month ago, and I've used it almost daily since I did.
This is how I found it, completely covered in dust, seams ripped and hard as rock, luckily the leather hadn't cracked anywhere.
I carefully took it apart and oiled all the individual parts until they were a bit soft again, carefully put all parts in a bag and took it with me back to Amsterdam.
I had left it untouched until last month and only oiled it couple of times more to get the leather more supple.
A little while ago I befriended a local leather repair guy (one of the few left here in Amsterdam) as I needed tips how to get this back together again.
He gave me a bit of old, super thick and strong waxed string, and also suggested me what needles to get.
I ended up breaking all needles I got except for one, as the leather was so thick hard.
But, my efforts payed off and I finally managed to get it together and now use it almost every day.
I currently carry it on my belt and it's perfect to hold my camera as the leather is so stiff.
Stitching is less white, there was a lot of sunlight when I took the pic. I want to oil it once more, as I haven't done it since I put it together, think that that will also make the stitching blend in more.
Weird construction actually, as the top only goes under that flap and isn't attached to the bag. So when worn on a belt the bag doesn't actually hang on stitching.
I would've done it the other way around.
The leather has aged beautifully, scratches, waterstains etc.
(L) Couldn't get a better pic of the inside as the flap tends to bend back when you try to keep it open. Here you can sort of make out the inside flap. The stitching that holds this flap inplace was still in perfect condition weirdly enough.
(R) Think I'm going to have to replace this, it wasn't in the best condition already and the hole is starting to rip and stretch with all the use it suddenly gets.
This piece was also attached with small nails, which I couldn't replace, hence the two holes at the top
This piece goes under the "bridge" and it's what my belt loops through. It's also starting to crack since it moves and bends quite a bit as it isn't attached to the bag on the top. Going to have to replace this soon as well I'm afraid, but I don't look forward to it as I'll probably have to take the whole back piece off again.
The metal loop is beautifully rusted, yet still smooth to the touch. Have no clue what this was used for except maybe to hook the bag onto something else.
Note the old stitching still.
(L) Same as the loop above, no need to do anything to this as it was still as solid as ever
(R) Burned in markings that I can't decipher, might as well have been in the hide before it was cut into a pouch.
edit: On my quest to find out more about this pouch, but not really knowing where to start I decided to email Mister Freedom with a link to pictures.
I mean, a Frenchman and a walking encyclopedia when it comes to vintage, who wouldn't have consulted him.
His reply:
This is nuts...
WW1!!!
Crazy!
I'm walking around with an antique piece brought back from the grave.
Guess I have to start taking better care of it...
Last time I was there, which was end of December last year, I had a look in the attic above the garage.
We normally never come there as there are no stairs up to it and it's too low to stand straight, but I put a ladder up there and climbed up as I was curious. This isn't your normal rummage attic, it's really crappy, has only one window with no glass in it and the floor is basically just a bunch of old wood loosely laid over some wooden beams.
In between lots of bird and bat droppings, an old bottomless bucket and these big metal hoops that used to be used to construct wooden barrels with I found this really old leather pouch.
All I can say about it is that it's old, no clue how old exactly though.
The house was build in 1822, but the garage wasn't added till just after WWII and it has been empty ever till my family bought the house in 1990. It has been used as storage by the old neighbor, so there's also a possibility that it belonged to him, he had an accident with his moped (the only motorized thing he owed) around '87. From then the two houses were left abandoned till '90.
So it is the most likely that it ended up up there anytime between the 50's and 1987.
That's the closest I can get to dating it.
And about it's use I can also only guess, my father suggested that it was an ammo pouch used for hunting, as it has an inner flap to cover the content and it has just the size to fit hunting rifle shells. Also the farmers around our area are quite fond of hunting.
I didn't have time to restore it until about a month ago, and I've used it almost daily since I did.
This is how I found it, completely covered in dust, seams ripped and hard as rock, luckily the leather hadn't cracked anywhere.
I carefully took it apart and oiled all the individual parts until they were a bit soft again, carefully put all parts in a bag and took it with me back to Amsterdam.
I had left it untouched until last month and only oiled it couple of times more to get the leather more supple.
A little while ago I befriended a local leather repair guy (one of the few left here in Amsterdam) as I needed tips how to get this back together again.
He gave me a bit of old, super thick and strong waxed string, and also suggested me what needles to get.
I ended up breaking all needles I got except for one, as the leather was so thick hard.
But, my efforts payed off and I finally managed to get it together and now use it almost every day.
I currently carry it on my belt and it's perfect to hold my camera as the leather is so stiff.
Stitching is less white, there was a lot of sunlight when I took the pic. I want to oil it once more, as I haven't done it since I put it together, think that that will also make the stitching blend in more.
Weird construction actually, as the top only goes under that flap and isn't attached to the bag. So when worn on a belt the bag doesn't actually hang on stitching.
I would've done it the other way around.
The leather has aged beautifully, scratches, waterstains etc.
(L) Couldn't get a better pic of the inside as the flap tends to bend back when you try to keep it open. Here you can sort of make out the inside flap. The stitching that holds this flap inplace was still in perfect condition weirdly enough.
(R) Think I'm going to have to replace this, it wasn't in the best condition already and the hole is starting to rip and stretch with all the use it suddenly gets.
This piece was also attached with small nails, which I couldn't replace, hence the two holes at the top
This piece goes under the "bridge" and it's what my belt loops through. It's also starting to crack since it moves and bends quite a bit as it isn't attached to the bag on the top. Going to have to replace this soon as well I'm afraid, but I don't look forward to it as I'll probably have to take the whole back piece off again.
The metal loop is beautifully rusted, yet still smooth to the touch. Have no clue what this was used for except maybe to hook the bag onto something else.
Note the old stitching still.
(L) Same as the loop above, no need to do anything to this as it was still as solid as ever
(R) Burned in markings that I can't decipher, might as well have been in the hide before it was cut into a pouch.
edit: On my quest to find out more about this pouch, but not really knowing where to start I decided to email Mister Freedom with a link to pictures.
I mean, a Frenchman and a walking encyclopedia when it comes to vintage, who wouldn't have consulted him.
His reply:
Here are a few infos i gathered on the origin of that ammunition pouch:
It seems to be a French Army, World War 1, ammo pouch. Belonged to a "poilu" (nickname given to those poor guys who fought in the trenches, poilu meaning "hairy" in french, since they didn't have time to shave between ducking bullets) from the "133eme Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne" (the stamp reads 133eme de L.). Not sure of the right number, hard to decipher, but it is the military issue stamp, which tells which company the equipment went to, and that was put on all gear/clothing.
The hook was hooked to leather suspenders that supported the gears. The pouch was also strapped to the 3 inches wide issued leather belt.
It contained ammunition for the issued riffle model 1886/93. Because of the urgency of the demand during WW1, some of those ammo pouches differ because they were ordered swiftly from different manufacturers, with sometimes varying specs.
I am joining a scan of a 1916 "poilu".
Voila! That is the story of this mystery pouch you found!
This is nuts...
WW1!!!
Crazy!
I'm walking around with an antique piece brought back from the grave.
Guess I have to start taking better care of it...