This winter jacket was designed and sold by a firm called Roland Originals based in downtown Dayton, Ohio, the state’s most prosperous city at mid-century. The company flourished from the 1940s, or a few years earlier, to 1960. Roland Originals appears to have retailed its creations through representatives around the country, who met with customers by appointment only. These sales events are promoted in newspapers from the East Coast to California, and through the South. Roland Originals designs were stylish, with slightly quirky details. The bold “swagger” collar helps date this jacket to the 1950s, a high point for the company. Find out how to draft a similar design, on p. 13.

Photographer: Mike Yamin, Source: Kenneth D. King, Text: Carol J. Fresia

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