Drop ‘Em! Belts or No Belts?

In the movie Open Range, Boss (Robert Duval) and Charlie (Kevin Costner) rough up some bad guys. And just to humiliate them, Boss orders them to drop their pants. They undo their belts and do as instructed.

It’s a great scene, but there’s one problem: belts were not normal accessories in 1882, the time in which the movie is set.  Most men wore suspenders or cinches to hold their britches up. Belts became more popular in 1922 when belt loops were developed. But for the film, it probably works better to have belts.