Hip flask
A hip flask (older name: pocket bottle ) is a small, flat bottle with a slight curvature that is designed to be carried in the breast pocket of a jacket or in trouser pockets. A hip flask is usually filled with high-proof alcoholic beverages and serves as a container for the "small sip in between". The designation Flachmann is also used for smaller, commercially available liquor bottles.
description
Hip flasks come in a wide variety of designs. They have a flat, mostly curved bottle body with rounded corners. Depending on the equipment, they are made of bare metal, mostly stainless steel or, more rarely, aluminum. There are also hip flasks made of glass, clay or plastic. While hip flasks were originally mostly made of thick glass, at times the metal version prevailed almost exclusively. In the course of increasing security checks with metal detectors, plastic hip flasks have increasingly been established in recent years.
Most hip flasks have a simple screw cap that, on some models, is hinged to the bottle body. This reduces the risk of fluid loss. Some hip flasks are equipped with a small drinking cup attached to the screw cap, while other models have the drinking cups in a separate case. The usual accessories also include a small funnel to make filling easier. The outer surface of the bottle body or the covers can be provided with decorative decorations, engravings or proprietary marks.
In the American-speaking world, the standard hip flask size is 8 or 6 ounces (about 240 and 170 milliliters, respectively ).
use
The slightly curvy shape of most hip flasks results from the fact that they were originally often worn in trousers on the hips or on the thighs or ankles and thus adapted better to the body shape.
The hip flasks are best for storing hard alcoholic beverages or water, as most other drinks will go bad in an open container or there will be chemical reactions with the materials in the bottle. Because of the narrow opening, hip flasks are difficult to clean, so drinks that are less durable than alcohol can quickly cause irreversible and potentially harmful residues inside the bottle. In general, with a stainless steel container, the beverage begins to take on a metallic taste after a few days of storage.
The best-known shape, however, is the standard version made of brushed stainless steel as shown in the picture. Traditionally, hikers , hunters and travelers use the hip flask as a utensil. In recent years it has started to become popular at weddings as a gift from the groom for the male groomsmen. This trend originated in the United States. Outside of weddings and on golf courses, the hip flask appears almost only when artists and eccentric people use the hip flask, which can hardly be found in everyday life, to show a certain exoticism and eccentricity.
history
Hip flasks developed along with the commercial trade in gin, brandy, and whiskey. Before the 18th century, almost only brewed or pressed alcohol was traded, while distilled alcohol experienced a new commercial expansion in the 18th century. At that time it was then possible to drink a significantly higher percentage of alcohol than beer or wine and then to need correspondingly smaller quantities. The popularity of bags within clothing - as opposed to shoulder bags or pouches - did not begin to develop until the 16th century.
Pocket bottles appeared in the circles of the English landed gentry in the 18th century . They were probably developed from the mostly larger canteens that served a similar purpose. The earliest hip flasks resembled flattened eggs in shape that could be easily moved out of and into pockets. They were mostly made of precious metals such as silver.
As the hip flasks began to spread, the way they were made changed. They were now mostly made of (thick-walled) glass, which at that time began to become a bulk product. Glass was tasteless, but it broke easily and was heavy. The bottles found their widespread use in the numerous wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, when a small bottle with high-proof alcohol quickly became standard luggage for soldiers. In this context, the shape and material developed quickly.
Hip flasks experienced their heyday at the time of American prohibition, when the small, easy-to-hide bottles became common property among alcohol consumers.
In the first six months of the prohibition period, more hip flasks are said to have been sold than in the previous ten years. The English term bootlegging for smuggling was also derived from the fact that men and women carried the alcohol in the curved bottles in their boots ("boots") on their legs ("leg"). During this time, metal finally began to prevail as a material over glass, as this was more durable. The risk of losing precious alcohol was just as small with metal bottles as the risk of making the police aware of one's own alcohol by breaking in an awkward place. In some areas, the police are said to have specialized in hitting conspicuous dents in clothing with the baton with the aim of destroying the glass bottle and exposing the wearer as an alcoholic drinker.
In American English, the term hipster was derived from the word hip flask. Hipster originally referred to men who carried the forbidden alcohol in the form of hip flasks with them at the time of Prohibition. A first mention can be found in the New York Tribune of December 22, 1920:
"How can twenty-five men keep Chicago dry, when it would take that many to watch the hipsters in one hotel dining room?" This is the question heard among those who already have obtained table reservations.
After the end of Prohibition, the word stayed, but changed its meaning to a dancer who danced very hip-hugging, ultimately referring to a person who follows the latest trends in fashion and style since around the 1950s.
The state of Indiana therefore generally banned the sale of hip flasks during the prohibition era. Shortly afterwards, however, small "oil bottles" and "milk shakers" could be bought in Indiana. In the United States, possession of filled hip flasks remains illegal in many places, as some states and many municipalities prohibit carrying alcohol in open containers and hip flasks are considered open containers in this context.
The hip flask has experienced a small renaissance as a fashion accessory since the 2010s. At a time when health and healthy eating were becoming more important and alcohol consumption was declining in industrialized countries around the world, he should make an ironic statement against it. As a symptom of its further spread, it became apparent that in 2012 both Louis Vuitton and Hermès added a hip flask to their range.
reception
There is a well-known movie scene with a hip flask in Billy Wilder's film Some Like It Hot , which is set at the time of Prohibition. There, the singer Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, played by Marilyn Monroe , falls a hip flask out of her underwear when she rehearses too intensively with her women's big band. In the 2010s, the scene became famous in which Charlie Sheen in the series Two and a helped take a swig from the hip flask at a funeral.
Web links
- Ned Beauman: In Praise of the Hip Flask , Esquire December 15, 2013
- Nils Wrage: Five drinks for the hip flask , Mixology.com, November 30, 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Marcello Borges: The Hip Flask Guide. In: Gentleman's Gazette. June 29, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018 (American English).
- ↑ LAVIVA: The groom's checklist | LAVIVA . July 21, 2017 ( laviva.com [accessed November 17, 2018]).
- ↑ a b c d e f g Frank Kelly Rich: Pocketful of Joy: The Hip Flask Manifesto. In: Modern Drunkard Magazine. Retrieved November 17, 2018 (American English).
- ^ Anna Archibald: Long Live the Flask . In: Supercall . November 5, 2016 ( supercall.com [accessed November 17, 2018]).
- ↑ Merriam Webster (Ed.): The Original Hipsters . ( merriam-webster.com [accessed November 17, 2018]).
- ↑ The Jazz Age: The American 1920s. In: Digital History. Retrieved November 17, 2018 .
- ↑ a b The return of the hip flask . In: Musikexpress . April 30, 2012 ( musikexpress.de [accessed November 17, 2018]).
- ^ Matthias Heine: Word history: What the hipster has to do with a hip flask . In: THE WORLD . September 27, 2016 ( welt.de [accessed November 17, 2018]).