I have several variations of the Second World War cold weather over mitten, with variations in length, material and wrist fastening to be observed depending on manufacturer. Last year I picked up another variation on the theme, but this example is still in nice clean condition and hasn’t suffered from the sort of discolouring that can often afflict white military kit over the years. The design is a white cotton mitten with a leather palm and a deep cuff that comes up the arms:

Much like a pair of toddler’s gloves, the mittens are joined together with a piece of tape which can be passed down the sleeves and means that if the user takes off the mittens he can’t drop and lose them- a handy feature on military kit where items may be removed and misplaced in stressful combat conditions:

The palm of the mitten is lined with white leather to provide grip and prevent the mitten wearing out too quickly:

The inside of each mitten is stamped in blue ink with the manufacturer’s name ‘J Hanlon and Sons’ of Liverpool and the date which is heavily smudged and is either 1942 or 1943:

James Hanlon & Sons were a leather working company based in Upper Beau Street at the Rose Leather Works, in Liverpool that were in existence from at least 1898. They had been advertising leather goods in the Edwardian period and clearly had branched out into items of mixed materials by the Second World War and were completing contracts for gloves and gauntlets.