Hungary Unusual Hungarian Uniform

[Gordon Craig]

Gents,

Last Saturday at the monthly Militaria Show here in Budapest I bought a uniform that the vendor said he "thought" was for a prison guard. During the week I have been researching a stamp that I found inside the tunic and on the outside of the pants. As is usual with stamps in uniforms it was not totally readable. I sought assistance from a Hungarian collector who has tentatively identified the stamp as reading "MEGYEI TBC GY?GYINT?ZET DOBA" and has translated that as "County Medical Institute for Tuberculosis". Doba is the name of a small town. I would ike to ask if anyone else out there knows anything about these uniforms. It is made from a heavy wool material usually associated with enlisted personnel rather than officers. It is a medium grey/blue colour. It has loops on the shoulders for shoulder boards but no buttons. Shoulderboards were held onto Hungarian uniforms in the early 50's using a manner that did not require the use of shoulder board buttons attahced to the tunic and this same system seems to have been used on this tunic. However, the style of the tunic and the crest on the buttons indicate use and manurfacture around the mid 60s. Pictures of the uniform, the buttons and the interior stamp are posted below.