Cop

Policemen have been called cops or coppers in the English-speaking world at least since the 1850s, and perhaps even earlier than that.

Some claim that the term arose from the copper badges or copper buttons on their uniforms, or perhaps as an acronym of 'Constable on Patrol' or 'Chief of Police', but these claims should be dismissed as fanciful.

Cop is an old English term for a policeman and is probably derived from the verb 'to cop' as in to seize or catch (from the Latin capere – to take).

To cop is to seize or catch, and a copper is a person who seizes or catches.

I cop:

He cops:

 They cop:

Sarge D

Art Gallery 03

More Art Atwood

Langlitz leather jackets

Langlitz Leathers in Portland Oregon makes, quite simply, the best leather jacket in the world (although as the owner of a custom-made jacket, I have to confess I might be a little biased). They've been making custom leather jackets (and pants and gear) for almost 50 years.

Columbia

• Langlitz's Columbia jacket is the epitome of the traditional leather biker jacket. It has a heavy-duty adjustable band at the bottom, strong enough to support the weight of a heavy policeman's gun belt, and the back dips down to give better pant overlap.
• The jacket has a heavy duty offset front zipper made of brass. In fact, all the zippers on the jacket are high-quality brass. The sleeves cant forward for easy handlebar reach, assisted by semi bi-swings on the back.
• The Columbia comes standard with a dress collar, but you can easily substitute a fur or cassock collar.
• Shoulder epaulets are a popular option, as are diamond-quilted shoulder and elbow pads.
• You can also order the Columbia with belt loops and a Sam Browne belt if you want desire a bit more support or need to use the jacket for police work.
• Badge patches are also available if you plan to wear an outside badge and don't want to punch a hole in the leather.

Pocket Columbia

• The Pocket Columbia comes with four inside pockets (map, wallet, gun and hidden) and six outside pockets (two outside hand pockets, one each on the right wrist, left biceps and chest, and a small watch pocket on the lower left front.)
• It also comes with belt loops and a Sam Browne belt.
• The Pocket Columbia also includes epaulets on the shoulders.

Padded Columbia

• The Padded Columbia comes with the same four inside pockets (map, wallet, gun and hidden) and six outside pockets (two outside hand pockets, one each on the right wrist, left biceps and chest, and a small watch pocket on the lower left front.)
• Like the Pocket Columbia, the Padded version also includes belt loops and a Sam Browne belt.
• The difference between this jacket and the Pocket Columbia is that diamond-shaped shoulder and elbow pads (not the epaulets) come standard on the Padded Columbia.

YouTube's Leatherbyker shows off his Padded Columbia, Sam Browne and red-striped Rangers from Langlitz:

You can of course customize a jacket however you want it to be configured. The guys at Langlitz Leathers are happy to oblige if at all possible. For example, I ordered both epaulets and pads on my jacket. I also ordered leather lining on some pockets, and skipped the inside map and hidden pockets (but kept the wallet and gun pockets).


The jacket seems quite stiff and armor-like for the first few months. Langlitz staff advise you that their cowhide garments can take a few months of wear to soften up, and that's spot on. I've been wearing mine since August, and it's just starting to feel 'right' now.


Tip: Ask for 'finished edges' on your shoulder and elbow pads (with the edges folded under and sewn rather than leaving a visible line of suede).


LANGLITZ LEATHERS 2443-A SE Division Portland, Oregon 97202
Website: http://www.langlitz.com/
503-235-0049 (Phone)
503-235-0959 (Fax)


To request a catalog, email Catalog@Langlitz.com
For general questions, email Question@Langlitz.com
To contact the owner directly, email Dave@Langlitz.com

If you live close by or happen to visit Portland, stop by their shop, a short five minute drive from Portland city center. The store's open Monday to Friday and closed weekends.

Sarge D

Bill Ward

London born and bred, Bill Ward was an active member of the city's leather community and belonged to the M.S.C. London Leather and Denim Club. Bill died in July 1996.

His work frequently appeared in numerous leather-oriented magazines, including Drummer and Manifest Reader. Leathermen, uniforms, bars, backrooms and sex figured prominantly in his art.

He is perhaps best known for his Drum stories, like the one included here.

Finding anything about the man or his images on the web has been challenging, and what images are out there are spotty at best. To further muddy the issue, there's another British artists named Bill Ward who produced straight bondage porn. There is also a drummer in Black Sabbath named Bill Ward, so combining his name with 'drummer' or 'drum' on Google doesn't deliver the hits we're looking for. The best advice I can give is to look for his work in old issues of Drummer, and on sites like this that post some of his images.

All the images on this page originally appeared in the late great Drummer magazine.

Sarge D

In the clink

Possibly the oldest prison in England, The Clink was located in London's Southwark district, for many years an extremely unsavory part of the city.

The prision was originally used for religious prisoners sentenced by the court of the Bishop of Winchester, and probably got its name from the 'clink' sound of metal on metal.
 

By the seventeenth century the prison had become a local jail for debtors, heretics and other offenders (both male and female). The prision was in continuous use from 1151 through 1780 when it was burned in a riot.

It was not rebuilt after the 1780 fire, and the modern building on the site is a recreation in the basement of a former warehouse.

Clink came to mean any prison or prison cell, and to be 'in the Clink' meant to be in prison.

Sarge D

Long arm of the law

Warning: These pythons are lethal weapons!

(The top two images are unaltered. Sarge D)

Up the river

The maximum security Sing Sing Prison was built in Ossining, New York in 1828, approximately 30 miles 'up the [Hudson] river' from New York City.

Hence a felon convicted of a crime in New York City from 1828 on might be sent 'up the river' to serve his time at Sing Sing.

Sing Sing Prison 1855

Being sent up the river has since come to mean serving time in any prison.

("Down the river' on the other hand comes from the days of the American slave trade when troublesome slaves might be sold 'down the [Mississippi] river' to cotton plantations in the Deep South.)

Sarge D

Pex-tacular Dennis Wolf

You're not the only one who'd like to lay hands on this spectacular muscular bull!

 

Art Gallery 02

Art Atwood - Musclegod

Sarge D

Gilbert III 02

More Gilbert III (Gilbert Martinez III). No idea where these images were originally published (if they ever were). They've been collected from the web over the course of several years without provenance. Almost certainly not from back issues of Muscular Development, though, first because of the subject matter and second because they're in colour.

Sarge D