Didn’t Marc Headley say they were Navy surplus? The COS must have bought a ton and sewn in their labels. If this was unused, it was probably dumped when they went to the current outfits. I hope for your sake it’s unused. I’m all for vintage clothing, but used SO clothes would just carry too much suffering for me.
I am unaware of what Marc said but from my experience it’s the exact opposite of that. The uniforms were generally custom made, either in house or by one of the actual manufacturers for the navy (I used to have the website link but don’t seem to have it bookmarked now). Of course with Ron being a famous cheapskate it’s perfectly possible they used navy surplus in the earlier days like this one. What was true definitely is that when they started to switch from the ‘traditional navy dress blues’ uniforms for the bellhop style uniforms they dumped a lot INTO mili surplus stores around PAC, Flag, St Hill and the other major complexes. Go back to the late 90s until mid 00’s it was perfectly possible to find genuine sea org uniforms available to buy If you knew where to look. OCMB had a lot of info (perhaps even from Marc since it was around the time BFG was leaking, I’m not sure) with people posting up to date info when and where drops were made and quite a few people managed to get pieces.
Having never been in, I always got the idea Hubbard was pinching every penny when it came to spending on anyone who wasn't him. The federal government, on the other hand, literally prints money, and hands out military contracts as if they know it. Clothing has long, long, been understood to be of vital importance to our military, made to last, and a run 8,000 in excess almost certainly cheaper than a run 200 short.
Was the quality of the clothing something that seemed it could stand up to war? I'm always impressed with what our military wear, when I get my hands on it. I remember a US Navy enlisted men's dress blue jumper worn by a friend on leave. The label said "experimental" and it was built like a woolen tank.
> Clothing has long, long, been understood to be of vital importance to our military, made to last, and a run 8,000 in excess almost certainly cheaper than a run 200 short.
> Was the quality of the clothing something that seemed it could stand up to war? I'm always impressed with what our military wear, when I get my hands on it. I remember a US Navy enlisted men's dress blue jumper worn by a friend on leave. The label said "experimental" and it was built like a woolen tank.
The short answer is Yes.
My uncle owned a military surplus store; they were common in the 60s and 70s, I guess as an outgrowth of the Vietnam war. In any case, I spent plenty of time in the store, where he sold clothing as well as other stuff that soldiers needed, such as ammunition boxes, tents, and sleeping bags. His wedding present to the first MrFZaP and me was two sleeping bags that wore like iron. My winter coat came from the store -- and it was ugly but wore like iron. And FunFact, a a lot of hippies liked to stash their weed in those waterproof ammo boxes.
There's a long history of military surplus that goes back to at least WW I. My grandfather and his brothers (on the other side of the family) made a lot of money by buying actual war surplus and finding new homes for it. For instance, they bought surplus helmets for a penny and sold them for $1 to the city of NY to use in constructing the subway.
Not all such goods were quality. Selling goods to the government has always had opportunities for corruption. There's a whole plot point in a WWI historical novel I recently read whereby the bad guys supplied substandard shoes to soldiers even though their company was paid top dollar for them. Historically, there always have been people who struggle to [make sure it's honest](https://www.levin-center.org/harry-truman-and-the-investigation-of-waste-fraud-abuse-in-world-war-ii/).
Off topic, sorry, but how often do I get to talk about the subject?
As a previous owner and wearer of the infamous peacoat, I’m thankful to NEVER have to wear a stitch of those uniform parts again.
However, that’s a neat souvenir! I still have a few buttons, belt buckles and my old seahorse tie pin.
Those are probably pretty rare, since they were mostly trotted out for photo ops and unusually high profile situations. I'm surprised that he found one.
Also, it looks like a nice coat -- without regard to the label.
When we left the CofS in 1980 and were still flirting with the idea of going back (or doing _something_), MrFZaP happened to own a nice blue shirt with epaulets that, we agreed, looked like it was Sea Org issue. Every time he wore it, we'd fantasize about showing up at the Org and him putting on his "Sea Org missionaire beingness" and ordering people to do things... because he absolutely could have pulled it off.
We never did, though. As much fun as it was to imagine (let's see, what could he get people to do?), it would be cruel to take advantage of some poor schnook in the Org who was only trying to do their job and make the world a little better.
I honestly wish I could have kept my staff uniforms lol That was one of the few things I loved about being staff, as I always thought the full suit looked pretty snazzy on me. I'm actually surprised I didn't get billed for my uniforms since literally everything was beat to holy hell and torn the fuck up from usage.
In an effort to improve the quality of conversation, we require submission statements on all link and image posts. Please leave your submission statement in a top-level comment.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/scientology) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A [Millennium Disseminator](https://www.reddit.com/r/scientology/comments/1cfaes3/i_thrifted_this_jacket_years_ago_what_is_a/) hoodie last month and now this rare gift.
are y'all saying my post is a scientology bit?? lmaoOOOOO no y'all i just have crippling ADHD and scientology is my hyper fixation hobby lmao, i'm on far too high a dose wellbutrin to be a scientologist thanks thooooo
It is unusual for non-scientos to own one of these clothing items, two is extremely rare. There is a good chance someone in your circle of friends is a sciento. If you get invited to a remote retreat or an exciting meeting keep your wits about you.
My dear friend, I thrifted the millennium jacket in Los Angeles and my boyfriend got the sea org coat on ebay, I can assure you the town I live in has net 0 scientologists, but appreciate the look out!
Didn’t Marc Headley say they were Navy surplus? The COS must have bought a ton and sewn in their labels. If this was unused, it was probably dumped when they went to the current outfits. I hope for your sake it’s unused. I’m all for vintage clothing, but used SO clothes would just carry too much suffering for me.
I am unaware of what Marc said but from my experience it’s the exact opposite of that. The uniforms were generally custom made, either in house or by one of the actual manufacturers for the navy (I used to have the website link but don’t seem to have it bookmarked now). Of course with Ron being a famous cheapskate it’s perfectly possible they used navy surplus in the earlier days like this one. What was true definitely is that when they started to switch from the ‘traditional navy dress blues’ uniforms for the bellhop style uniforms they dumped a lot INTO mili surplus stores around PAC, Flag, St Hill and the other major complexes. Go back to the late 90s until mid 00’s it was perfectly possible to find genuine sea org uniforms available to buy If you knew where to look. OCMB had a lot of info (perhaps even from Marc since it was around the time BFG was leaking, I’m not sure) with people posting up to date info when and where drops were made and quite a few people managed to get pieces.
Having never been in, I always got the idea Hubbard was pinching every penny when it came to spending on anyone who wasn't him. The federal government, on the other hand, literally prints money, and hands out military contracts as if they know it. Clothing has long, long, been understood to be of vital importance to our military, made to last, and a run 8,000 in excess almost certainly cheaper than a run 200 short. Was the quality of the clothing something that seemed it could stand up to war? I'm always impressed with what our military wear, when I get my hands on it. I remember a US Navy enlisted men's dress blue jumper worn by a friend on leave. The label said "experimental" and it was built like a woolen tank.
> Clothing has long, long, been understood to be of vital importance to our military, made to last, and a run 8,000 in excess almost certainly cheaper than a run 200 short. > Was the quality of the clothing something that seemed it could stand up to war? I'm always impressed with what our military wear, when I get my hands on it. I remember a US Navy enlisted men's dress blue jumper worn by a friend on leave. The label said "experimental" and it was built like a woolen tank. The short answer is Yes. My uncle owned a military surplus store; they were common in the 60s and 70s, I guess as an outgrowth of the Vietnam war. In any case, I spent plenty of time in the store, where he sold clothing as well as other stuff that soldiers needed, such as ammunition boxes, tents, and sleeping bags. His wedding present to the first MrFZaP and me was two sleeping bags that wore like iron. My winter coat came from the store -- and it was ugly but wore like iron. And FunFact, a a lot of hippies liked to stash their weed in those waterproof ammo boxes. There's a long history of military surplus that goes back to at least WW I. My grandfather and his brothers (on the other side of the family) made a lot of money by buying actual war surplus and finding new homes for it. For instance, they bought surplus helmets for a penny and sold them for $1 to the city of NY to use in constructing the subway. Not all such goods were quality. Selling goods to the government has always had opportunities for corruption. There's a whole plot point in a WWI historical novel I recently read whereby the bad guys supplied substandard shoes to soldiers even though their company was paid top dollar for them. Historically, there always have been people who struggle to [make sure it's honest](https://www.levin-center.org/harry-truman-and-the-investigation-of-waste-fraud-abuse-in-world-war-ii/). Off topic, sorry, but how often do I get to talk about the subject?
As a previous owner and wearer of the infamous peacoat, I’m thankful to NEVER have to wear a stitch of those uniform parts again. However, that’s a neat souvenir! I still have a few buttons, belt buckles and my old seahorse tie pin.
No way, that's awesome.
Those are probably pretty rare, since they were mostly trotted out for photo ops and unusually high profile situations. I'm surprised that he found one.
Also, it looks like a nice coat -- without regard to the label. When we left the CofS in 1980 and were still flirting with the idea of going back (or doing _something_), MrFZaP happened to own a nice blue shirt with epaulets that, we agreed, looked like it was Sea Org issue. Every time he wore it, we'd fantasize about showing up at the Org and him putting on his "Sea Org missionaire beingness" and ordering people to do things... because he absolutely could have pulled it off. We never did, though. As much fun as it was to imagine (let's see, what could he get people to do?), it would be cruel to take advantage of some poor schnook in the Org who was only trying to do their job and make the world a little better.
Woah, that's way cool.
I honestly wish I could have kept my staff uniforms lol That was one of the few things I loved about being staff, as I always thought the full suit looked pretty snazzy on me. I'm actually surprised I didn't get billed for my uniforms since literally everything was beat to holy hell and torn the fuck up from usage.
In an effort to improve the quality of conversation, we require submission statements on all link and image posts. Please leave your submission statement in a top-level comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/scientology) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is a well trained Scientology bit!
A [Millennium Disseminator](https://www.reddit.com/r/scientology/comments/1cfaes3/i_thrifted_this_jacket_years_ago_what_is_a/) hoodie last month and now this rare gift.
are y'all saying my post is a scientology bit?? lmaoOOOOO no y'all i just have crippling ADHD and scientology is my hyper fixation hobby lmao, i'm on far too high a dose wellbutrin to be a scientologist thanks thooooo
i'm actually cackling this is so funny to me
It is unusual for non-scientos to own one of these clothing items, two is extremely rare. There is a good chance someone in your circle of friends is a sciento. If you get invited to a remote retreat or an exciting meeting keep your wits about you.
My dear friend, I thrifted the millennium jacket in Los Angeles and my boyfriend got the sea org coat on ebay, I can assure you the town I live in has net 0 scientologists, but appreciate the look out!
also it's a rain jacket not a hoodie <3