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After watching an unwanted monkey languishing on Manion's for what seemed like an eternity, I finally decided to adopt it.

Once in hand, I was surprised to see that the main body of the pack was made in 1935, by a Sattler in Wolfhalden, making it the oldest of the three "1941" or "1942" style Tornisters I have (which would make the '41' or '42' designation somewhat of a misnommer, I would think). Also, I was surprised to see that it had a removable flap, which I had assumed to be a feature found only in the later variant of this pack model. The removable flap itself is dated 1943, and was made by a different Sattler, in Staefa; which initially made me think that it was a conversion - from a fixed-flap early model to a convertible later model. However, if any conversion had been performed on the pack, there is absolutely no trace of the rework on it today. The construction details, leather trims, fabric edges, stitch work on this pack are completely intact and look original to the pack in every way. If it was rebuilt, it had to be done from scratch using many new components. I know the Swiss were thrifty, and the 96/11 was a good example of their making something new out of something obsolete, but did their recycling philosophy apply to even the hair monkey? My alternative hypothesis is that the pack was built as a convertible in 1935 (which would imply that the fixed-flap variety and the convertible type were made concurrently). At some point during the pack's service life, it was issued with a purpose-built replacement flap; which would explain the presence of the Sattler stamp on the flap (absent on the convertible flap of my other '43-dated Tornister).

Feature-wise, this one looks like a cross between my 1941 fixed-flap and 1943 convertible examples, making it a distinct variant in its own right. Below are front and back views of all three packs. The 1935 monkey is on the left, the '41 fixed-flap is in the middle; the '43 convertible is to the right.




A: The '35 and '43 convertibles have a square 'name tag'; the '41 fixed-flap example doesn't.
B: The '35 and '41 have a metal belt hook under the leather loop; the '43 doesn't.
C: The '35 has leather reinforcement on the bottom of the pack; the '41 and '43 don't.
D: The '35 has leather straps; the '41 has cavas+leather straps; the '43 is similar to the '41, but with additional reinforcement.
E: The '43 convertible flap on the '35 has a sewn-down loop, like that of the fixed-flap '41; the 'real' '43 has a buttoned loop.
F: The two convertible flaps have metal rings on the edges; the fixed flap on the '41 doesn't.
G: The '43/35 convertible flap and the '41 fixed flap have two leather loops; the 'real' '43 convertible flap has only one.
H: The '35 and '43 are identically constructed to accept a convertible flap.

Has anyone seen any other variation of this '41/42' model hair monkey?