{"id":8962,"date":"2023-03-27T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=8962"},"modified":"2023-05-01T11:42:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T15:42:26","slug":"before-it-was-old-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=8962","title":{"rendered":"Before it was “Old School” Camo"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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By Brad Sanders <\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Long before it was “old school\u201d, it was just camo. Before it became the preferred camouflage of North American duck hunters, its story began on the backs of Marines and soldiers in the Pacific campaign of WWII.\u00a0Few of today\u2019s waterfowlers know the true history of their favorite \u201cretro\u201d camo pattern, and fewer still know that the lineage of this storied pattern began in the garden of a San Francisco horticulturalist while he gazed at a frog\u2019s skin.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A History of Combat <\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 1942, General Douglas MacArthur called “frog skin” camo in to service through an urgent request for 150,000 jungle uniforms. The initial uniforms were reversible.\u00a0One side consisted of a 5-color jungle variation. The other side was comprised of 3 light tan and brown colors for use along the beaches of the Pacific.\u00a0Feedback from the troops was almost uniformly negative.The green jungle pattern was entirely too bright to blend in with the dense jungles of the Pacific campaign. The pattern also found limited use on the M1942 uniform in the European theater. However, its similarity to certain German camouflage uniforms led to friendly-fire incidents.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Frog Skin Suits <\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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So where did the name \u201cfrog skin\u201d come from? Enter\u00a0Norvell Gillespie<\/a>, a San Francisco horticulturalist and gardening editor for none other than\u00a0Better Homes and Gardens<\/em>\u00a0magazine.\u00a0\u00a0The military commissioned Gillespie to develop the pattern, and he looked to nature to guide his design.\u00a0Inspired by the seemingly invisible amphibians that frequented his garden, Gillespie modeled his design after the crypsis pattern on a frog\u2019s skin. When the camo uniforms were issued, GI\u2019s called their new uniforms \u201cfrog skin suits.” The name stuck.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Duck Hunter's Camo <\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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After the war, the military sold off many of MacArthur\u2019s original uniforms as surplus. When servicemen returned home to their favorite hunting marshes, they wore their old \u201cfrog skin suits.\u201d It wasn\u2019t long before the hunting apparel industry took notice. The market became flooded with specialty hunting garments using “duck hunter’s camo.”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Old School Camo <\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For decades after its initial use, frog skin was simply “duck hunter\u2019s camo.”\u00a0Its use was widespread in popular hunting garments through the 1980\u2019s when it gave way to more modern and realistic camouflage. The pattern that had dominated hunting apparel for almost half of the 20th<\/span>\u00a0century seemingly disappeared from store shelves. It was the revival of the pattern as a retro reboot by a popular waterfowl apparel brand that rebranded frog skin as \u201cold school.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Retro Reborn <\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today frog skin is enjoying a resurgence as waterfowlers and even high fashion brands seek out gear and apparel that helps them create a more authentic experience.\u00a0FrogSkin Camo\u2122<\/a>\u00a0by Dixie Decoys is the most historically accurate reproduction of this iconic pattern to date.\u00a0Our take on frog skin camo is recolored to more appropriately match typical waterfowl hunting environments. It is a direct reproduction of Gillespie’s original crypsis pattern.\u00a0From\u00a0base layers<\/a>, to\u00a0outerwear<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0hats<\/a>, you can find something that directly connects you to your long and stored heritage as a North American waterfowler.<\/p>

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So now you know the TRUE story of your favorite \u201cretro\u201d pattern. Next time somebody compliments you on your \u201cold school\u201d hat or jacket, be sure to honor the legacy of the servicemen who carried the camo pattern into battle on far away shores by calling it as they did\u2026FrogSkin.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0If you’re looking to add some historical character to your waterfowl hunting apparel, check out Dixie Decoy’s\u00a0FrogSkin Camo collection<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to connect with your heritage.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrad Sanders \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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is an active duty Marine Corps major stationed in Eastern NC. Along with serving for over 18 years he is the co-founder and president of Dixie Decoys. Brad and his family call New Bern, North Carolina home. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long before it was “old school\u201d, it was just camo. Before it became the preferred camouflage of North American duck hunters, its story began on the backs of Marines and soldiers in the Pacific campaign of WWII.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hunting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/34F07F84-B0E9-47FE-8B65-A73DCFF82997_600x600.webp","acf":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8962"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9342,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8962\/revisions\/9342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}