Mostly, AIWB, no holster, if on-body. IWB behind hip, much less often. Pockets, much less often. Holsters have been almost non-existent for on-body carry.
Off-body, in backpacks and bags, has always existed, with varying degrees of commonality.
I started LEO-ing in mid-March 1984, and my final regular patrol shift ended January 01, 2018, at 0600.
Houston TX PD, Central Patrol Division.
Totally off-topic, but I was at UofH from 1985 until 1989, and I was quite impressed with HPD in my limited dealings with the officers. In the fall of 1985, a group of friends and I were pulled over by a uniformed HPD officer one evening because we had out of state plates and were obviously lost. The patrol officer both explained how to get where we wanted and escorted us out of a not-so-great area. That made an impression.
Thanks for your service.
From the old school Mexican Federales open carrying this way in town wearing jeans with tucked in shirts and their requisite boots and belts. Gun grabs attempts aren't much of a concern when you are known to shoot people for looking at you wrong.
It also worked well for concealed carry under a Guyabera shirt.
It's normally associated with 1911s and to a lesser extent SAA s with the loading gate open to keep the revolver from sliding down into the pants.
Unfortunately as Mexico has devolved into a low intensity war the practice has fallen by the wayside.
Loser of a recent gun fight (stemming from criminal activity by both participants) had holster and spare mag.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
I've read that the origin of the term is came from how Mexican Vaqueros carried pistols. The more modern version being that Mexican Vaqueros couldn't carry in a holster because of gun control laws in Mexico. The earlier version being somewhat derogatory and implying that Mexicans were too poor or cheap to buy holsters and just shoved pistol in their waistband. I can't confirm either, but I suspect that the latter is probably more accurate.
Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right.
But were the chonies sexy?
99% of the time when we took some armed chud off the street, his pistol was jammed into his waistband. We got one vato one night carrying a Smith Model 10 revolver.....COCKED...in his waistband. He said "I seen some sher'ff cops packin dis way". County pukes were issued SA GI 1911s at that time, so apparently he thought carrying his DA Revo cocked was cool.
The few times a "qualified customer" actually had a holster, it was a nylon gun show special, or the holster the gun was in when it was stolen.
When everyone around you is running, screaming, and losing their minds...look for the quiet old gray haired cop because he's about to kick down some doors and sort some unruly bastards out.