A Texan policeman, 1930s

Love the tie, but which Force?

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Judging from the cap badge, maybe highway patrol?

I gotta admit, with the bow tie and the cap, he kinda looks more like a gas station attendant or delivery man, apart from the badge, Sam Browne belt, and the jodhpurs and riding boots.

Yeah based on the cap badge, boots, and the trouser stripes I am going to guess he may be from what was at the time called the Texas Highway Motor Patrol which would become the Texas Department of Public Safety's Highway Patrol Division in 1935.

Hi Guys,
This is an excellent 1935 studio portrait of a Highway Patrol Trooper of the Newly formed TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY showing off the newly issued uniform.
The lower curve of the cap badge reads 'HIGHWAY PATROL' and the breast badge has 'Dept.of Public Safety' on the top curve and 'HIGHWAY PATROL' on the Bottom curve. The Star in the center shows the wearers personal number. Both badges are silver/chrome with black enamel lettering.
The colour of the uniform is the same as the current one.
Cap - Tan with Blue band and red piping. Black peak.
Shirt - Tan with Blue eppalettes with red piping, silver metal buttons, Black bowtie.
Breeches - light grey with Blue stripe with red piping.
Leather - black with chrome fittings.
The cap was changed to a wide brimmed hat of western style sometime in the 1950's. Riding breeches were discontinued around the same time as motorcycles fell out of use with the department.
Regards,
Les

Actually I think the shirt may have been light blue with the tan shirt being introduced along with the broad brimmed cowboy hat in the 1950s.
See this picture from the Texas DPS museum website: texasdpsmuseum.com/r0300564.jpg

www.txdps.state.tx.us/PublicInformation/images/varietyHPgraduatelg.jpg
^ Highway Patrol academy class graduation picture, presumably form the 1930s - if you look closely you can also a see a slight difference in tone between the pants and the shirt.

www.texasranger.org/history/images/TxHP1949.jpg
^ Texas Highway Patrol troopers in 1949 - uniform appears to be all tan in this picture.

www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/2009MemSvcWreath.jpg
^ the current uniform with the tan shirt and light gray pants which fits the description that Les-Art provided.

HI Chris,
I just checked my older photos and a colour museum display and you are nearly correct the original shirt was actually a Blue-Grey colour with the breeches being light grey. Through the years the shirt has changed to tan and the trousers changed to grey, the stripe and eppaulettes were always there.

It is difficult when veiwing old b & W pics to guess on the precise colour as many things get in the way, type of material, lighting, etc. The 1949 photo of the 2nd Platoon certainly looks as though the trousers and shirt match by colour, but this goes against my research to date, however I am quite happy to accept that they had some uniform variation before deciding on the current colour scheme. I know that they have had many colour versions of the shoulder patch so maybe the uniform had short lived changes too.

I have an image of a reinactor at a show wearing a Brown 8 point cap, blue-grey shirt with Green patches and khaki(US ARMY colour) trousers. Now I know the Green patches were issued but haven't come across this colour scheme for the uniform before. My one conclusion is that the differnt Divisions at some point had different uniforms, just as they had different coloured patches before the current issues - Highway Patrol RED, License & weight GREY, Driver License BLUE/RED, Safety Education BLUE/YELLOW.

This is jsut the fun of research:))

Les