BGS/Polizei Leather Uniforms

[Collectinsteve]

Here are some leather motorcycle and patrol uniforms in leather. First up, a 1963 set which I was told is BGS, but I suppose it could also be Polizei. The rank on the jacket were added by me and are probably Nordrheinland-Westfalen from the correct time.









The sad thing is I purchased the trousers two times. The first time the eBay seller never sent them after I paid, the second time I had better success.

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

Interesting uniform. Here are some pictures from my files of a BW letaher motorcycle suit in wear. I don't remember seeing any BRD police leather motorcycle suits that didn't have reflective stripes on them like the one in these pictures. Any label in the jacket or pants?

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

#2. These photos show off the belt, and Feldjaeger accessories that Nico posted, very well. Anyone seen boots like this?

[Collectinsteve]

Hi Gordon,

When did reflective stripes start to exist? I would think 1963 would be a little early for them?

Both jacket and trousers have tags on them. Same manufacturer (Brauch & Frey), both dated 1963. I don't have a picture of the tags handy, but it's the same as the one in this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...#ht_500wt_1082

I absolutely love the BW motorcycle uniform. Never seen those boots for sale, nor the uniform for that matter. I do have the Flecktarn version, which appears to be nearly identical in terms of construction.

Steve

[SprogCollector]

Steve,
Are you positive the two piece suit listed is a motorcycle suit? I only ask because most vintage motorcycle jackets tend to have the zippers on the sleeves and some form of reinforcement in the shoulders, etc.

Clearly this suit was inspired by the WW2-era panzer uniform. I'm wondering if it's more likely to be some type of protective suit for a BGS or Polizei armored car or some open type of vehicle rather than a motorcycle.

I'll add that I have very little knowledge of BGS or Polizei uniforms. I'm focusing on the lack of protective features typical of motorcycle clothing of the 1950s/60s.

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

I have no idea when the reflective stripes started to appear on police motorcycle uniforms. An interesting thought and one worth following up on.
I'd looked at the auction of the jacket you posted the url to and wondered if it was the same as yours. Thanks for the clarification and the label info. The label doesn't look like BGS to me but then we are in our infancy in trying to research labels in uniforms. Your suit looks green. Is it?
Sprog collector has a good point. The first time I saw this jacket from ebay and saw the support straps hanging down the insides it made me think more of a field use piece of gear than a motorcycle coat
I'd like to see you start a thread on the tarn motorcycle suit. I have never seen one. I am still kicking myself for not buying the BW motorcycle suit that I posted pictures of!!!

Regards,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

When did reflective stripes start to exist? I would think 1963 would be a little early for them?

Both jacket and trousers have tags on them. Same manufacturer (Brauch & Frey), both dated 1963. I don't have a picture of the tags handy, but it's the same as the one in this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...#ht_500wt_1082

I absolutely love the BW motorcycle uniform. Never seen those boots for sale, nor the uniform for that matter. I do have the Flecktarn version, which appears to be nearly identical in terms of construction.

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

Early motorcycle uniforms, as far as I've seen, weren't all that fancy in terms of protection. Just thick leather and that's about it. I don't know at what point "armor" and padding became common, but like the reflective strips... these things were certainly not present in times before 1950s. Motorcycle uniforms going back to the 1920s were simple leather or even wool!

Labels for leather items tend to be non-descript from my experience. Having said that, I have no particular desire to call this a BGS uniform because I lack any way to verify that. But whomever used it also used shoulder rank of a type similar to BGS. That does reduce the possibilities somewhat.

One thing is clear, this is purpose built uniform, not something worn for general circumstances. It is a very dark green color and therefore not Bundeswehr. It could be either BGS or Polizei. But what it would it be used for if it was not a motorcycle uniform? It doesn't appear to be good for much else. Probably not helicopter, probably not for boats.

Gordon, yeah... that would have been a good grab if the price was affordable. Sometimes people want way, way too much money for these items. I only collect them when the prices are reasonable. Otherwise it's too expensive once the shipping is factored in. Like my 1950 Fliegerkombi!

I'll see about getting some pics of the Flecktarn motorcycle set. They're actually fairly easy to get on eBay.de, but not necessarily inexpensive. I was fortunate to get mine from someone in the US and not many bid on it.

Steve

[SprogCollector]

Hi Steve,
I would agree this is neither helicopter attire (they wore a green version of the BW fliegerjacke) nor seagoing (presuming a green version of the B-marine leather suit would be chosen, if such a thing even existed).

I found some photos of Polizei leather gear while searching Google images. Here are a few of them:
from the 70s: Hersteller: Häckel & Co Münster
http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de/anzeige...gruen/21934136


http://cgi.ebay.ch/Vintage-Polizei-L...-/150577542577



Motorcycle combo in the familiar moosgrün:








Chris

[Collectinsteve]

Interesting to see what appears to be an early production Moosgrün motorcycle set. Note the lack of reflective strips on it, but the presence of padding.

Tonight I struggled to get my leather coats out and took some pictures of them. Here we go...

2004 dated jacket:



Tag present, but no date, but my guess is 1980s or perhaps 1990s.



Dated 1979. Looks very similar to above, but the internal parts are very different. For one thing it has a snap on cloth collar and can take a snap/button in liner. Internal pockets are different, external packet flaps have a stiff material inside them, etc.



Undated motorcycle jacket, NRW Polizei. Obviously pre 1976.



1971 dated NRW Polizei jacket:



1969 dated jacket. I have S-H rank on it, but I have no idea if that is correct:



1964 jacket. I have BGS rank on it, but I have no idea if that is correct:



Enjoy!

Steve

[Nachrichten]

Very impressive and all in beautiful condition.

Reminds me of the old Bette Midler song...........

Your place must smell like a "brand new car".

N

[Collectinsteve]

Heh... yeah, it does. And when you move things on the rack they are hanging on you get a nice leather "creaking" sound.

I never set out to collect leather jackets. I just happened to buy a bunch of them when the Euro was weak (yes, a long time ago!) and before postage rates went through the roof. Plus, at the time nobody in Germany seemed interested in buying these. I think I bought one of these jackets for under 10 EUR. I even bought extra jackets and resold them here in the US at a profit. Those days are long gone.

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

Nice collection of leather jackets. Really shows the many different styles used by a variety of police forces.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

I only have pictures of one lether coat to add at the moment. It is the same as the S-H jacket in your first post after the green motorcycle suit. Unfortunately, the zipper on my coat is broken.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

The shoulder boards. They come shrink wrapped in plastic when they are issued. They button into place with snaps built into the boards. There are other boards that just have a button hole but I don't know if they are earlier or meant for a specific uniform.

[Gordon Craig]

The label in the coat. It has the policemans name hand written in it. I have all of his uniform items. Dated 1998.