US Navy Life Jacket-This is made of a heavy blue-gray rubber. This is quite the feat of engineering when you look at how this inflates. In fact, if you have time, you should google US Life Vests in the 30’s and 40’s and read about the milkweed. I read that in the height of World War II, milkweed was valued for its floss, a naturally buoyant and water-repellant fiber used to fill life jackets for soldiers. It took two 20-pound bags of milkweed pods to make one life preserver. Can you imagine? Anyway, this example is the later war model of the Navy landing craft driver’s life preserver worn by the drivers of landing. It is dated 1944 on the face, along with the stencil “Property of the US NAVY’. The original gray blue canvas straps are present along with the tubing and hardware. The rubber has some discoloration, and the maker marks are light but still readable.