Knickerbocker
Knickerbocker is the name for an about calf-length assault pants with wide legs that can be worn by men and women alike. Knickerbockers were originally made from leather and were intended as hard-wearing clothing for hikers and mountaineers . Also Goalkeeper of football teams like to attack until 1920 back to Knickerbocker, to protect against abrasions to protect. Today, however, the material can also be cotton and synthetic fiber .
Similar trousers are three-quarter trousers or knee breeches . The knee breeches that are still in use , a universal mix of pants and shorts, differ slightly in that they have a higher, laced finish near the knee, while the knickerbockers are wider.
History and origin of name
The name Knickerbocker is based on the satire A History of New York , which was published in 1809 by the writer Washington Irving under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker . The main character in it is called Jansen Knickerbocker. It describes the first settlers in New York, which at that time was still called New Amsterdam, who came from Holland and wore calf-length " Schlumperhosen ". Knickerbocker then became a nickname for the inhabitants of the city - which u. a. in the name of the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company (owner, inter alia, the General Slocum ) or the New York Knickerbockers basketball team . When knee trousers, which resembled those in “History”, were used for cycling and hiking around 1895, these trousers were simply called “Knickerbocker” after their historical model.
The place Knickerbocker in Texas , located at the intersection of Farmroads 2335 and 584, was named after Diedrich Knickerbocker .
Reception in literature
Well-known Knickerbocker wearers are the comic heroes Tim by the illustrator Hergé and Nick Knatterton by Manfred Schmidt . These pants also gave the Knickerbocker gang in Thomas Brezina's youth books their name. The members of the gang also call themselves Knickerbockers. Manfred Hausmann is depicted in knickerbockers on the cover of his travelogue "Kleine Liebe zu Amerika" (1930).
