History of American Motorcycle Gloves: From Cavalry to Cruisers

Introduction

In 1928, when Schott NYC sold its first Perfecto jacket out of a Long Island soda fountain for $5.50, riders were already wearing gloves — but no manufacturer had yet designed one specifically for motorcycling. The gloves of those early riders were cavalry surplus, driving gloves repurposed from the automobile trade, or work gloves pulled from the same shelf as a farmer's gear. The history of the American motorcycle glove is, in one sense, the history of a culture gradually developing the specialized equipment its activity demanded — a process that took nearly a century to fully mature and that remains incomplete today.

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That history is inseparable from military technology, Hollywood myth-making, the rise and fall of American tanneries, and the small cohort of domestic manufacturers who chose craft over scale when the economics of the industry shifted decisively toward offshore production.

Pre-Motorcycle Origins: The Cavalry Gauntlet and the Driving Glove (1850s–1910s)

The American motorcycle glove's most direct ancestor is the cavalry gauntlet, a standardized piece of military equipment with specifications dating to the Civil War era. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps issued leather gauntlets to cavalry units throughout the second half of the 19th century. These gloves were typically constructed from buckskin or heavy cowhide, featured a long cuff extending several inches past the wrist, and were designed to protect the hand during mounted combat and long-distance riding.

Conclusion

The history of the American motorcycle glove spans more than a century of accumulated engineering knowledge, military specification development, cultural myth-making, and craft tradition. From cavalry gauntlets adapted for early motorcycle dispatch riders to the deerskin gloves produced today by small-batch American manufacturers, the trajectory is one of gradual specialization driven by specific use-case demands.

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