The Legit Vintage logo comes from a 1938 Santa Barbara phone book we discovered at an estate sale. Looking through the book, we found an advertisement for a company we had never heard of. “ZEPHYR-CRAFT INC. AIRSHIP BUILDERS- Designers and Builders of Dirigibles and Airplanes.” The ad had an incredible image of an airplane/airship hybrid, a cross between a Zeppelin and a World War II bomber. The President of the company, A.J. Zemansky, operated out of a residential address on Anacapa Street, an improbable location for airship production. We wondered, what happened to this company? Did they ever build one of these things? What happened to Mr. Zemansky? Here is what we know: On May 5th, 1942, four years after the advertisement ran and about a year into the official involvement of the United States in World War II, Adolph J. Zemansky, hometown Santa Barbara, became a Private in the US Armed Forces. His term of enlistment was for five years, “Or the Duration of the War or Other Emergency, plus six months, Subject to the President.”
He is listed as a married architect, born in 1907, with four years of high school. Originally from New York, living in Santa Barbara. It is unclear whether he was drafted or enlisted. Further research shows that Mr. Zemansky ended up as a Technician in the 820th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The 820th landed in Normandy, France at Omaha Beach during the Allied D-Day Invasion in 1944. An awfully long way from Santa Barbara and Zephyr-Craft. From there, the 820th and Technician Zemansky deployed to the “Ardennes sector in early December, where the Battalion was deployed with the 106th Infantry Division in the path of the German offensive.” Otherwise known as the Battle of the Bulge. Documents show that the 820th was involved in some of the fiercest and most brutal fighting during the liberation of France.
The rest of the story of A.J. Zemansky is, for now, lost to history. We honor Mr. Zemansky’s service to his country and are proud to remember his dreams of airships and dirigibles- however they turned out.
Our goal is to provide clothes with images that reflect our rich history with logos from iconic old restaurants, businesses, and events from old Santa Barbara.
We would like to give locals an option for showing off their neighborhood history, while giving visitors from out-of-town something to take home that goes beyond the generic. If you have a good idea for a local shirt, shoot us an email!