A saucy invitation for a police ball that would land its creator in hot water today with the PC-brigade has been unearthed.
The poster reveals just how much has changed in recent decades, as it features two scantily-clad women wearing hot pants and police hats.
A grinning police officer stands in the middle of the pair in the very un-PC poster for the 1945 dance, which was found among the belongings of a former officer.
The police archive was amassed by PC Albert Mead who walked the beat in Buckinghamshire the 1930s.
It includes 29 notebooks filled out in pencil between 1932 and 1936 listing all the crimes he encountered on a daily basis.
This poster for a police charity dance in the 1940s which has come to light after 83 years would land the force in hot water today
These range from petty theft to attempted murder.
Officers were expected to be out and about and were given martial arts training to apprehend suspects resisting arrest.
The notebooks, which have been filled out in pencil, contain detailed descriptions of assailants and crime scenes as well as sketches of road traffic accidents.
A guide on detaining suspects using ju-jitsu was also found among the belongings of PC Albert Mead who walked the Buckinghamshire beat
One entry refers to a 5ft 4ins tall man with curly hair who was wanted for interrogation for stealing a bicycle, while another notes the theft of a lawnmower.
However, PC Mead has also documented more serious incidents. He was hot on the trail of Frank Cable, a 49-year-old man with a gold tooth wanted for attempted murder.
There are also numerous images taken by PC Mead of the aftermath of car accidents including one pile-up involving a tractor, a Rolls Royce and a coach.
Other items in the collection are his steel police helmet, medals and the Jiu Jitsu manual to deal with unruly members of the public.
The two cheeky invitations were for the police charity dances of 1945 and 1947. The events were to raise funds for the Bucks Constabulary Widows and Orphans Fund and involved a military dance band.
PC Mead died several decades ago and the archive has been consigned for sale by his son with East Bristol Auctions.
It is tipped to sell for £600.
Notebooks were compiled and kept by the PC. The auction for the fascinating police memorabilia is expected to fetch £600
The fascinating archive has emerged for sale at a time of several high-profile examples of ‘inappropriate’ behaviour in the workplace.
Two RNLI lifeboat crew members were sacked earlier this month after they swapped a pair of novelty mugs with nude women and their heads superimposed on them as Secret Santa gifts.
And Richard Ned Lebow, a political scientist at King’s College London, was ordered to write an apology after joking in a lift he wanted to get off at the ‘ladies lingerie department’ while he was out in California for an academic convention.
The now historical documents are now going on sale.
PC Albert Mead’s 29 notebooks are to go to auction on Friday, May 18
Andy Stowe, expert at East Bristol Auctions, said: ‘This is an astonishing and incredible large archive of personal effects relating to PC Albert Mead of the Bucks Constabulary in the 1930s.
‘The notebooks are each completely filled out in pencil with various notes of crimes and misdemeanours and there are hundreds of entries included.
‘There is everything from petty crimes like the theft of a scooter to far more serious matters like attempted murder.
‘Reading through the pages it becomes clear how different things were back then as it was much more community based and everyone knew everyone.
‘They were out walking the beat and had their Jui Jitsu manual for advice on how to approach suspects with some hilarious diagrams.
‘The police dance posters are fabulous too and reflect a time when they took things a lot less seriously.
‘You wouldn’t see something like that today.’
The auction takes place on Friday.