Customs Official Uniforms

Question

Costume Designer in desperate need of research help - I feel like I've telephoned half of DC trying to figure out how to access the CBP History Program's archives https://www.customsmuseums.org/our-museums/united-states-of-america/

I'm designing a short film featuring a border crossing scene at a port of entry in 1968, and need an accurate reference for the uniforms of customs officials. All I've been able to find are pictures of Border Patrol, who were a totally different department until 2003, and have been told that Customs uniforms have "always been dark blue."

I've enquired at the Border Patrol museum in El Paso, the Customs Museum Foundation in Florida, and have tried multiple avenues for contacting the CBP themselves, but all the menus are for people applying for Global Entry or asking about their immigration status - not people trying to learn about the organization itself.

At this point, I'm ready to accept information from someone who remembers going on vacation to Mexico in the 60s or 70s and could vaguely describe what Customs looked like.

Jason, National Archives · Answer

Dear Ms. Haverkamp, &#160; Thank you were posting your request to History Hub! The CBP History Program can be contacted by calling Ms. Anne Saba at (202) 344-3336 or emailing her at Anne.M.Saba@cbp.dhs.gov and Mellenie Solomon at (202) 325-4544. Also the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Multimedia provides advice and guidance to screenwriters, directors, producers and authors who need information regarding the Department and its component agencies. We searched the National Archives Catalog for uniforms in the Records of the United States Customs Services (Record Group 36) without success.&#160; However, it is possible there may be manuals, handbooks, or other textual records that describe U.S. Customs Service uniforms. Please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov for more information about these records. We also searched the Catalog for photographs and motion pictures in Record Group 36 and located series that might include photographs of uniformed Customs Service personnel and port of entry operations such as: Photographs Relating to Agency Officials, Facilities and Equipment, and Enforcement Pursuits, 6/1970 - 6/1996 , Master Files of Photographs Relating to Agency Officials, Facilities and Equipment, and Enforcement Pursuits, 6/18/1970 - 7/1997 , Slide Presentations of Agency Activities, ca. 1973 - ca. 1986 , and Select Photograph File Documenting Agency Operations and Facilities, 1970 - 1996 . These series are in the custody of the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS). Please email RDSS at stillpix@nara.gov for more information. Two additional series -- Photographs, ca. 1850 - 1995 and Customs Service Oversize Graphic and Photographic Records, ca. 1888 - 1961 are in the custody of the National Archives at San Francisco (RW-SB). Please contact RW-SB via email at sanbruno.archives@nara.gov . Motion picture series that you may find useful include Video Recordings Relating to Customs Activities, 1975 - 1997 and&#160; Moving Images Relating to Customs, ca. 1965 - ca. 1990 . These records are in the custody of the National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RDSM). Please contact RDSM via email at mopix@nara.gov . And lastly, the video A Day in the Life of Chopper has been posted to the National Archives&#8217;s YouTube channel and portrays U.S. Customs canines with uniformed dog handlers, to include operations at a port of entry along the Mexican border, in the late 1960s. Also on YouTube, posted by C-SPAN, is the video 1964 U.S. Customs at Border with Mexico - Educational Film which depicts uniformed United States Customs Service and other law enforcement officials at a port of entry in 1964. We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research! &#160;