The 1960s polo-neck jumper with the manual fingerspelling alphabet is so far the only one known to be in existence. A Level 1 British Sign Language student spotted it in a charity shop in HastingsĀ and presented it to her tutor Davina Merricks who recognised its distinctive style and so donated it to the Deaf Museum.
Why is it unique?
The fingerspelled alphabet shown on the jumper is almost the same as the one in the fingerspelling chart in the book The history of the life and adventures of Mr Duncan Campbell. It is not known who designed and made the jumper or why the old fashioned fingerspelling was chosen instead of the current version.