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Mar 9, 2018 · From the name of the American film actress Mae West, renowned for her generous bust, the informal noun ‘Mae West’, attested in 1940, denotes an inflatable life jacket, originally as issued to Royal Air Force aviators during World War II.
Sep 15, 2022 · The 1932 Pattern Mae West was comprised of several parts - the waistcoat or container, the inflatable stole (bladder) and the kapok pads. The 'Waistcoat, Life-Saving, Inflatable Stole Type - Temperate Pattern' (22c/55) is more commonly known today as the 1932 Pattern due to the date of introduction.
A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suit that is worn by a user to prevent the wearer from drowning in a body of water.
Second World War period RAF life jacket. A successor to the earlier 1932 pattern, the Life Jacket MkI was introduced in July 1941 and, with various modifications, remained in service for the remaining years of the Second World War.
The USAAF Pneumatic Life Vest - affectionately dubbed the "MaeWest" vest (after the amply endowed film star) - was a pneumatic life vest that saved the lives of thousands of pilots during WWII. The yellow rubber vest inflated using CO2 cartridges, with a back-up manual inflation tube.
During that era, they acquired the name “Mae West jackets.” When a person puts one on and inflates it, he or she look like a buxom woman. In the 1940s, this reminded men of Mae West. Here’s how the life preserver came to be.
The 1941 Pattern 'Mae West' life jacket (officially known as the 'Waistcoat, life-saving, stole-inflated pattern') was introduced in July 1941 and was the first RAF jacket inflated by an internal carbon dioxide bottle, rather than manually by the wearer, as had previously been the case.
