My first handcuffs

     Anyone who, by nature, definitely rejected bondage games in childhood and adolescence, will view handcuffs with indifference at best, but often with reluctance. As this section is nevertheless clicked on, because curiosity probably outweighs disinterest – welcome!

     On Shrove Tuesday in 1955, I was handcuffed for the first time. From my school friend Hans-Rainer, who was dressed up as a policeman. "Don't force them!" he warned. "It's shit plastic. Breaks easily. Just enjoy it as if they were steel cuffs."

     Shortly afterwards, the child-friendly Schild department stores in our town  offered a sturdier metal model for games of cops and robbers. My father replaced the open chain links made of sheet metal with strong copper wire soldered together. He sawed off the protruding snapper, marked in red here. A pocket knife or something similarly sharp was then required to open it. These cuffs conveyed the feeling of being trapped while playing. However, really serious hand- and feet restraints still required parcel cords. Or the almost unbreakable nylon washing lines that had become fashionable. Twenty meters was not much of a burden on the pocket money and was enough to tie up all limbs tightly. 

     When we were twelve, we bravely ventured one step higher. Chains looped around our wrists and ankles from the hardware store, locked with snap locks, subjected us to what we only gradually realised were the characteristics of police handcuffs. We couldn't free ourselves on our own. Often not even with a key, if the thin chains were so tight that our hands couldn't reach the locks.

     Although the private possession of handcuffs in Germany was neither forbidden in the past nor is it today, it was almost impossible to acquire them privately in the 50s and 60s. Unless you were on good terms with members of the Bundeswehr Military Police, who could be persuaded to "officially" take one piece out of service if it appeared to be too rusty.

     However, the fantasy of playing with real police handcuffs remained ever-present. When my father enquired about my special wish for my 16th birthday, I boldly mentioned handcuffs. He regarded the constant scuffles and games with rope and chains between Hans-Rainer and me as athletic training, which improved my physically weak constitution. So he wanted to fulfil my wish and actually found a supplier named Horst Stein in the industry catalogue Wer liefert was (Who supplies what), wrote to him and immediately received the response: We only supply the police and other authorities.

     In my first job abroad in Spain, I learnt that civilians were not allowed to own handcuffs. In the Basque country, with its political and police peculiarities, the dealers apparently didn't take it that seriously. 1969, during a business trip to Irún, handcuffs flashed cheekily at me from a shop window like in an Edgar Wallace film. I had to summon all my courage to enter the shop and ask for the items, as it could mean that the Guardia Civil would be called. But the arms dealer only glanced briefly at my passport, took 240 pesetas* and handed me a cardboard box. Surprisingly, despite restrictions in the rest of the country, buying handcuffs at the French border became as easy as buying a loaf of bread at the bakery. LLAMA was the name of my new friends. The word primarily means flame, fire. But it can also mean the fire of passion.    

*12,50 German marks at that time    

     The shape and size of these handcuffs fit my slender wrists perfectly; they measure 17 cm in circumference on the left and 18 cm on the right. The following year, I bought a second pair at the same shop with the plan to replace the swivel and chain links with a hinge. This brings the hands very close together and severely restricts their mobility. Regardless of whether the keyholes point towards the hands or elbows, you need a quiet hour with undiminished concentration and absolutely steady fingers to free yourself, unsuccessfully tried in the GIF above.

     Actually, with two pairs of handcuffs for my hands and feet, I had achieved my heart’s desire.

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