Name/Title
Police uniform trousers c1950Entry/Object ID
15.2Description
A pair of black wool trousers in matching material to tunic item 15, with two rear pockets with button secured flaps, two side pockets, one small front pocket and truncheon pocket on the right side. There is a five button secured fly, side adjusters and buttons for securing braces. No makers marks.Use
For an officer to wear with a uniform tunic.Context
Officers always wore trousers of the same material as their uniform tunics, and the style hardly changed for much of the 20th century. In the days before officers were allowed to just wear shirts in the summer, most police trousers were held up with braces and had buttons to attach them, and no belt loops, such as with these. Since the 1880s police uniform trousers were also fitted with a long additional pocket to carry a truncheon in. The small front pocket on the right was initially intended for carrying a pocket watch, and such pockets remained a feature of police uniform trousers until they were replaced with cargo styles in the 2000's.
These particular trousers are currently matched to item 15, with which they are displayed and there they may have come from Brighton Borough Police like the tunic, but very similar examples would have been worn across Sussex. They probably date to c1950, though they could date from much earlier.