Footmuff

Footmuff as a hide bag, lined with red fox fur (2018)

With a tear-off jacket

inside

Railway passenger in a footmuff with a muff, a rolled-up footmuff on the luggage rack (Italy, 1st decade of the 20th century)

A footmuff is - compared to earlier times - a body warming device that is rarely used today and that can extend from the feet to the chest and back . Usually it was shorter and reached to the knees, often to the waist. Even shorter versions that end just a little above the ankles are called foot pockets , while the usually stiffer and slightly higher version is called foot cages . Most of the time, the footmuffs, foot pockets and foot baskets were lined with fur . Heatable versions have also been offered since at least the 1930s. In the meantime, they are increasingly made entirely of fabric, only with warm synthetic fleece as an intermediate lining.

Today, footmuffs are mainly used by hunters in winter high-seat hunting and by wheelchair users , and warmly lined baby carriage sleeping bags are also sold under the name footmuff.

history

On December 12, 1610, Duke Johann Christian von Brieg and the daughter of the Elector of Brandenburg, Princess Dorothea Sibylle of Brandenburg, married . On her return from Brandenburg, the princess was given a solemn reception:

"On January 1, 1611, the city gave the young princess a coat of gold cloth with woven silver roses, lined with ermine and trimmed with sable , a fur hat sewn with real pearls through the women of the council, from whom she was received at the gate , a muff of fine marten , a foot bag of velvet with moskowitischem Wolf fed and hand over a man-cast and gravirten tin foot warmers. […] Although Reformed, she visited the Lutheran church in the clothes she wore by the city, sat down next to the mayor's wife and forced her to put her feet in the footmuff that she had received from the city council. "

- History of the Prussian State: From 1191 to 1640

In 1813, Krünitz's economic encyclopedia reads : “The feet of the travelers, and the back seat, are covered with a large leather called the footmuff”. In bad weather, as a newer invention, this “footmuff” could be converted as part of a closed cover of a convertible . Germer Stockhausen economic Reallexicon mentioned in 1797 that they rolled Footmuffels of chaises , a two-seater coach, and sometimes were called "drum". In “Meine Kinderjahre”, Theodor Fontane also remembers a drum made of leather that was probably not made as a footmuff. As a small child he was put in a footmuff and transported in a carriage; the drum could not have protected him from falling out because it was not opened. In a fashion magazine from 1861, readers are advised that if fur is too expensive for them, they can also use cotton wool or down feathers to line a muffle pocket cover that they have made, crocheted or knitted themselves from fabric and attached to a small carpet. It is also mentioned that there are footstools available on the market with a sleeve pocket.

Even if footmuffs, baskets and bags were mostly made of lambskin, except for the fur trimmings, any type of fur could of course be used. At the fourth industrial exhibition of the Leipzig Polytechnic Society in September 1838, for example, a footbag made of the rarer, heavily patterned tigeriltis skin ("perewitzki") was offered for the price of six talers. Better footmuffs in the first half of the 20th century were made of Australian opossum , wallaby fur and wolf fur , and the outside was also made of black-dyed whitecoat fur .

Traveling by stagecoach in particular gave me cold feet. Among the 25 items of the Royal Prussian Post Office Directorate Stralsund that were found and announced for auction in July 1851 were two pairs of galoshes and three foot pockets. Until the middle of the 18th century and beyond, churchgoers in Berlin could be recognized by their rolled-up footmuffs, "it was the pride of the children when they were allowed to accompany their mother to church and carry the footmuff".

The long, actual footmuffs were mainly used for winter carriage and sleigh rides across the country; by the middle of the 20th century, these lush warmers that envelop the whole body had become quite rare.

Especially in fashion-conscious Italy, the foot warmers were not spared from the trends of the times. Around 1900 there was also the timeless model, which remained unchanged for years, for “the dining room, study, coach etc.”, but there were also some that became more refined every year. At first they were only made of “Persian fabrics with leather edging and fringed trimmings , damask-like and colored. Jute in various designs with internal lining and lamb hemming of foxtail or marble tail ". Then came “tabby backgrounds, otter plush , embroidery in silk and gold” and of course fur hems. There were also souvenir-style footbags, "with fabrics that look like illustrated postcards", on which the Peace Arch from Milan or views of Venice could be seen.

• Italian foot bags, early 20th century
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After the foot pockets had almost completely disappeared around 1920, they experienced a brief return with the general motorization, namely "much smaller, more delicate and tastier". In contrast to the past, the outside no longer consisted of deer blankets , fur heads and embroidery, but exclusively of leather. Soon, however, motor vehicles were given heating and the foot pocket quickly lost its importance again.

In 1939 a Viennese master furrier wrote :

“[...] because this winter, which was sometimes very cold, suddenly the footmuff was requested again. It may not have been the same in all areas, but in general it was. The furrier's best helper remains the cold. Of course, demand was not as it had been in the pre-war years; it will probably never reach this height again, but we also want to be so satisfied. "

It was also Viennese furriers who helped a small side branch of furring to a certain artistic quality, the fur mosaic , the assembly of fur remnants from the skin processing into ornaments and pictures. These works were used to cover cushions, hunting muffs, ladies' berets , foot stools , trimmings for coats, decorative carpets and also for foot baskets. This work began in the 1850s and peaked in the years 1870 to 1890. Exhibitions at trade fairs meant that the work found imitators in other countries, and Viennese products were particularly popular in Russia.

Especially until before the Second World War, there were companies that had specialized in the production of footbags and footmuffs, also decorated with animal and flower patterns. Often, however, the furriers had to make them according to the customers' special requests.

In the past, the short foot pockets or baskets were mainly, and are nowadays only, intended to warm the feet in living spaces.

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  Footmuff cover on a magnificent sledge in the Marstallmuseum Nymphenburg

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  Foot basket (1907)

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  Foot pocket (1907)

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  "Roller foot pocket, very convenient to fold up" (1917)

processing

“Foot basket with a lid made of mosaic. Executed by M. Hartwich, Vienna. Flowers and arabesques are made of nat. Otter cut ”(approx. 1905).

Footmuffs are made in different shapes. The highest-reaching shape has two hinged lids at the top that cover the chest and back. Upper and lower parts are man-length and connected by the side parts in such a way that the body has enough space.

Around 1938, mainly leather, synthetic leather, oilcloth or plush or a strong fabric was used for the cover. The fabric seams were often provided with piping for better appearance and better durability . But fur covers were also common, mostly made of short-haired types of fur such as seal fur or calfskin . In 1949, a furrier's handbook stated that the side parts were "made of leather, sealskin, dog, goat or lambskin". "The lid is either smooth made of seal or shows pretty mosaic work ". The floor, which was often stiffened with glued-in cardboard, was made of leather as much as possible, as it wears out easily on the ground. Sealskin is also very suitable for the floor, today largely subject to a trade ban, with the hairline facing forward, as the foot basket "does not move from its place" due to the elastic hair. In addition to other types of fur with stiffer hair, another material, which is also subject to a trade ban, was recommended for the floor in 1891, the dog fur already mentioned for the side panels . A leather hanger was sewn onto the lid "to be able to store the foot basket somewhere after use"

The interior usually consisted of thick sheepskin or lambskin , often dark in color or completely black. The edges and the pocket openings were often trimmed with opossum fur or raccoon fur for embellishment . Inexpensive fur scraps such as fox paws , better quality fox tail types , opossum tails or raccoon tails were also used for the entrance edge . The lining should not be sewn tightly inside the foot basket so that it can be pulled out for cleaning. Natural lambskins were easily infested with moths, at least in the past, which is why it was advisable to clean them often .

A pattern for a foot basket consists of three parts, the bottom, the sides and the lid. The semicircular bottom plate of the sacks or bags is about 36 centimeters long with a medium size, 32 in front and 35 centimeters in the back, the upper cover sheet of a short foot pocket or foot basket is about 24 plus 10 centimeters long or more, at the widest point the part is open. With the footmuff, everything has to be held a little more generously in order to make getting in and out more comfortable, unless a zip or Velcro is incorporated. In the case of a one-off production, the length of the body size and the width are adapted to the hip measurements. The combination between a footmuff and a blanket is also described, which makes the footmuff hardly recognizable when in use. The footmuff was provided with fur-trimmed lambskin pockets; a muff can also be incorporated into the area on the lap for particularly cold areas. Padded or quilted padding usually provides additional warmth.

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  Theodor Sperlich, fur goods manufacture, Aarau . Letterhead with Decorated Foot Basket (1907)

Web links

Commons : Footmuffs  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} "H." (Fritz Hempe): Construction of a footmuff pattern . In: The Kürschnerfibel . Supplement to the Kürschner-Zeitung , No. 3 , March 21, 1939, p. 25-32 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Without indication of the author: Ingredients for fur processing. Fur blankets, templates and foot pockets . In: The Kürschnerfibel . Supplement to the Kürschner-Zeitung , No. 4 , April 21, 1938, pp. 42 .
3. ↑ Looking around in science and technology . Volume 39, Umschau Verlag, 1935, p. 1029. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
4. ↑ Heidi Murkoff: The first year with a baby: Everything you need to know . MVG Verlag, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86415-715-8 (PDF). Retrieved January 23, 2018.
5. ↑ Gustav Adolf Harald Stenzel: History of the Prussian State: From 1191 to 1640 . 3rd book, pp. 540-541. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
6. ↑ [1] Johann Georg Kruenitz among others: Economic Encyclopaedie or general system of the state, city, house and agriculture . Volume 122, p. 221. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
7. ↑ Christian Friedrich Germershausen (Ed.): Oekonomisches Reallexicon . Leipzig, 1797, Volume 3, p. 391. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
8. ^ Theodor Fontane: My childhood years . P. 33. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
9. ↑ Without the author's indication: Very useful foot warmer for convalescents, sickly or elderly women . In: Pariser und Wiener Original-Damen-Moden-Zeitung from January 1, 1861, p. 11. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
10. ↑ Directory of the fourth industrial exhibition of the Leipzig Polytechnic Society in the German Booksellers Exchange , Volume 4 . Opened September 23, 1938. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
11. ^ Friedrich Jäkel: The Brühl from 1900 to the 2nd World War , 2nd continuation. In: Rund um den Pelz , No. 2, Rhenania Verlag Koblenz, February 1966, p. 90.
12. ^ Official Journal of the Prussian Government in Stralsund: 1851 . P. 204. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
13. ^ Paul Goldschmidt: Berlin in the past and present . Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH., 1910, p. 346, reprint: ISBN 978-3642-94378-2 . Retrieved January 23, 2018.
14. ↑ ^{a b c} Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and Rough Goods, Volume XVII . Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949, p. 55, keyword “footmuff” .
15. ↑ Anna Municchi: The man in the fur coat . Zanfi Editori, Modena 1988, ISBN 88-85168-18-3 , pp. 38-39.
16. ^ Hermann Deutsch: The modern skinning. Manual for the furrier, dyer, bleacher, cutter and garment maker . A. Hartleben's Verlag, Vienna / Leipzig 1930. p. 314.
17. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Fritz Hempe: Something about the footmuff . In: The Kürschnerfibel . Supplement to the Kürschner-Zeitung , No. 2 , February 21, 1939, p. 13-19 .
18. ↑ P. Pellifex (pseudonym for Paul Larisch ): Die Annalen der Kürschnerei No. 1: The fur mosaic . Verlag M. Melzer, Frankenstein, Schlesien, undated (1913), p. 8. [2]
19. ↑ Paul Cubaeus: The whole of Skinning. Thorough textbook with everything you need to know about merchandise, finishing, dyeing and processing of fur skins . 1st edition. A. Hartleben's, Vienna, Pest, Leipzig 1891, p. 394-396 .
20. ↑ ^{a b c} Alexander Tuma jun .: The furrier's practice . Julius Springer, Vienna 1928, p. 222-223 . → Table of contents .
21. ↑ Heinrich Hanicke: Handbook for furrier . Published by Alexander Duncker , Leipzig 1895, p. 40.