{"id":13266,"date":"2022-07-25T09:30:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T07:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=22146"},"modified":"2022-07-25T09:44:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T07:44:08","slug":"collecting-police-truncheons-tipstaves","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/collecting-police-truncheons-tipstaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting police truncheons & tipstaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Luke Honey\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 25 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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I\u2019m never surprised by the things people collect. Take the late Alistair McAlpine \u2013 one of the greatest collectors in living memory. His varied collections included: paper money from the Soviet Union, rare tribal flags, old roses, Venini glass, antique Venetian beads, early Scottish weapons, second-hand Hawaiian shirts and rare cattle. And police truncheons \u2013 900 of them: for there\u2019s more to a truncheon than at first meets the eye.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are tipstaves?<\/h2>\n
Until the mid-1990s, every British police officer carried a traditional wooden truncheon, as they had done since 1829 when Sir Robert Peel founded the London Metropolitan Police: generally recognised as the first modern police force and a model for other police forces around the world. By 1856, every borough and county had, by Act of Parliament, to form its own police force.<\/span><\/p>\n
But before the creation of modern policing, law enforcement was the responsibility of watchmen (often old men armed with a staff) and parish constables under the jurisdiction of local magistrates. Tipstaves or tipstaffs \u2013 more literally a \u2018tipped staff\u2019 \u2013 were carried as a symbol of office. These were ceremonial sticks, fashioned from wood or metal; sometimes hollow and topped with a crown in silver or brass, which, when unscrewed, might reveal a rolled-up paper warrant confirming the bearer\u2019s authority. <\/span><\/p>\n
Aside from the ceremonial role, inspectors and detectives carried tipstaves as badges of office which, in the latter case, were inscribed \u2018\u2026police officer in plainclothes\u2019. With the introduction of the warrant card, they fell into obscurity before their abolition in 1887.<\/span><\/p>\n
You might also like<\/strong> collecting Napoleonic memorabilia<\/a><\/p>\n

What are truncheons?<\/h2>\n
In the tradition of tipstaves, early truncheons were used as much for identification as defence, and the new Metropolitan Police Force continued to adorn their truncheons with authoritative coats of arms. Policemen \u2013 known as \u2018Bobbies\u2019 or \u2018Peelers\u2019 \u2013 wore blue tailcoats and tall hats of varnished leather and carried a pair of handcuffs and a wooden rattle. <\/span><\/p>\n
Twenty-inch truncheons were kept in a long pocket in the tail of their coat, deliberately hidden to emphasise the civilian nature of the force. These were turned from lancewood or male bamboo and painted black with the royal coat of arms placed above the initials \u2018MP\u2019 in gold, set against a red background.<\/span><\/p>\n
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