Army Navy was a staple in Texas for many decades. I shopped their extensively for clothing and a foot locker.
Levi’s were $5 per pair at the Army Surplus Store in the early 70’s, was right down the street, went there for years.
Pants at JC Penney were $2
They were everywhere in the 70s when I was a kid. Got an amazing navy pea-coat that I wore in high school all the time.
Great memories. ALL of my teenage hiking and camping exploits were outfitted by Army/Navy surplus.
Interesting read.
Early in the story I kept asking myself how do I know the name Bannerman? Ahhh, Bannerman Island. Cruised by it several times while stationed at West Point!
Thanks for posting!
Been in a couple of them, never had much dough, back then. If memory serves me correctly, John T. Amber, editor emeritus of The Gun Digest, told tales of working at Bannerman’s in his salad days. Civil War .45-70 Springfield breechloaders for $1.50 and such...
My local “Army Navy Surplus” store is full of made in China garbage.
There are few authentic things, but it’s all labelled as legit. Today’s A&N is mostly Rothco outlet crap.
And he charges what a department store would.
My dad would buy some sweet leather coats from the one my city in the 80s. The guy running it actually had an eye patch!
I also happen to see one in Seattle a couple of years ago.
I bought a U.S. bayonet at the surplus store on Navy Blvd. in Pensacola. This was around 1968. They had a barrel full of them.
I picked a nice one which was stamped 1919. It came with the hard sheath and appeared unissued tho not quite mint. It cost $6.00.
It fit both my 1903 and 1917 rifles. It knocked around until 1990 when I took it with me to a gun show. A guy at a table asked it it was for sale and I told him that it was.
He looked at it for just a few seconds and offered me $75.00 which I immediately accepted. I probably would have taken $20.00.
Very interesting article. Thanks for posting it. And I had always wondered about that derelict castle in the Hudson.
One form of Army surplus that still seems to exist is that the government has been giving military equipment to local police forces. There are multiple reasons why it is questionable if this is a good idea.
Believe it or not, there was an Army-Navy surplus store 4 or 5 blocks from the White House at 14th St and New York Ave, NW.
Sunny’s Surplus was like a garage annex of the Smithsonian Institution where a teen age boy could buy what was on display.
Aside from Lee’s denims here are some items purchased
gas mask, of course
Campaign hats
Leather flying helmets, couldn’t afford the jackets
AF Survival knife
Tank prism viewers- got several of these for the glass prisms, b**** to dismantle and get that asphaltic goop of the glass without scratching it.
shelter halfs
army cots
army wool blankets
various odd tools
de-milled ammo, brass arty shells
compasses
flashlights and so on and so on
Dad always inspected my buys and often sent me back for more.
Nearly cried when I heard they closed that store.
I still have stuff I bought at Andy & Bax in Portland back in the late 60s/early 70s.
I’ve passed this place a few times a week for the last 18 months on the way to a couple of our offices, but still haven’t stopped in.
http://www.tristateupdate.com/story/23301175/surplus-of-business-savvy-available-at-sandyville-store
Looks like it might be worth a visit.
Any FReepers in Wirt/Wood/Jackson county WV that have been there?
My Dad introduced me to Kaufman’s on W 42nd St. in Manhattan when I was 12. A few years later I “discovered” the one on Canal St. I spent many hours and a lot of my paper route money in those stores.
When I was in grammar school, olive drab might just as well have been the school color for both parochial and public schools in my area. Not only our coats, but bookbags as well. As with many of my fellow Scouts our sleeping bags, mess kits, canteens and knapsacks were also GI.
There is a little one out in West Columbia that has some neat stuff from time to time. I haven’t been in a long while.
I believe the one that was in downtown Columbia folded a while back.
A few years ago I dropped in at the store on 321 going into Gastonia. A fair amount of uniform and other clothing from what I remember.
my cousin bought one of those crate Jeeps, he still has itI miss the old Army Surplus stores! They had guns from the Civil War, Remington Rolling Blocks, Mausers, Carcanos, Arisakas, Enfields, Arabic muskets, Snider rifles, Civil War bayonets by the 55 gallon drum! Ammo for anything! Imported army pistols.
Along with clothing, miner’s helmets, carbide, hats, boots, camping gear to die for.
Then came 1968 and Johnson’s 1968 gun control law and the post 1898 army surplus rifles and pistols came to a halt!
I like armygear.net. 4 piece sleeping bags for $80.
