The Smithsonian Procures Leather Jacket from the Suicide Commandos

Punk rock’s origin stories usually concentration on New York Town and London, so how did a jacket from Minneapolis, worn by Suicide Commandos guitarist Chris Osgood, catch the eye of John Troutman, the Smithsonian’s curator of American audio?

“One ingredient that we preferred so much about the tale of the Commandos is that it speaks to some of the earliest stirrings of the punk movement in the inside of the nation,” says Troutman, who believes that the genre may have been much more transformative in local scenes and communities than in the bigger metropoles.

To begin with, Osgood made available some old guitars from the trio’s touring days, but the dialogue turned to phase gear following Troutman noticed Osgood’s black Perfecto-model jacket—a present obtained by his mothers and fathers in 1977 from Berman Buckskin (which became Wilsons Leather in the ’80s).

“The donning of the jackets indicators shared values and spirit within just a nationwide community of local tunes scenes, traversed by bands and scenesters alike,” claims Troutman.

Now component of the National Museum of American Historical past selection, the lived-in jacket was Osgood’s continual companion on Commando excursions. He even sported it although performing at famous Twin Towns venues (like Jay’s Longhorn Bar—AKA “The Longhorn”) for the duration of the band’s heyday.

“That jacket was my exoskeleton for some of the most enjoyable and meaningful chapters of my existence,” suggests Osgood.