Way back in 1965, there was a company called JC &G Limited. Started by Jack Couper, a cop and entrepreneur, the company made a revolutionary new duty holster.
At that time, nearly every police duty rig was made of leather. Couper, on the other hand, developed a rig made of thermoplastic. While not as robust as today’s Kydex, thermoplastic was one of the tougher materials of the time.