Police Uniforms 1950s?

[moggie 939]

Hi
I was watching Born and Bred which was set in 1950s and the village poiceman wore a flat cap not a helmet!

When I grew up in the 50s I remember the police using both - usually flat caps in cars and helmets on the beat and on bicycles.

Can anyone explain why this TV bobby wore a flat hat instead of helmet? I remember our local police in 1950s wore flat caps if they were sergeants.

Thans all

[boxtops]

I can't help, but I was in the same era as you and I only remember patrolling policemen wearing the pointy hats. I remember the big black police cars with bells, too!

[Postdog]

which raises another question, why were they called (black) Mariah's?

[Grandma_Yiddo]

I too remember police officers in tall helmets if they were on foot patrol. Senior ranks and traffic officers wore a soft forage cap.

[Grandma_Yiddo]

I seem to remember black Maria's were so called after a large lady who ran a brothel in the U.S.A. Sorry I can't recall any details.

[FredPuli43]

Yes, Grandma, that's one theory for Black Maria but another is that she wasn't a woman but a horse. The racehorse, Black Maria, was foaled in Harlem in 1826. She won a number of good races and became something of a local celebrity. Some local wit decided that her name was well suited to a fast conveyance, horse drawn, which the police used to carry prisoners, and the name stuck. The term first appeared in NYC around the time of the horse's fame, so this theory has some plausibility.