The humble donkey jacket: one of the mainstays of the British coal miner, binman, and other manual workers has a long history with the working class.
Originally created in the late 1800s for Manchester dockers the name donkey jacket is said to come from ‘donkey work’ as in laborious or gruelling work.
The donkey jacket, normally made from woolsack in a dark colour such as black or navy, had leather shoulders panels and two large side pockets (sometimes with an inside poacher’s pocket) and although first worn by navvies were later worn by binmen and other manual workers – most famously miners.
Donkey jackets were also popular with the skinhead culture in the 1970s.
