parka

This article covers the garment. For the band of the same name, see Parka (band) .

US Army Parka M-65 with detachable hood

Alfred Wegener (left) and his companion in the Greenland Ice Sheet in 1930

The (or the) parka is a long, often lined anorak or poplin coat with a hood, with some models also separately to be buttoned.

The word parka comes from the Eskimo language , the Inuktitut ; there parqaaq means "heat" (of the sun, of the stove, etc.). It was introduced into the German language by Adelbert von Chamisso in 1836 and in Alaska meant something like a piece of clothing made from bird or seal skin .

An alternative etymology refers to the Samoyed language of the Nenets , an indigenous people in northern Russia. Accordingly, parka appeared as a Russian loan word for the first time in 1780 in the English-speaking world.

It was originally worn in Alaska and Siberia , later mainly for military purposes. As a winter garment, it found its way into the US Army in the 1940s and later into the German Armed Forces . The two spacious pockets in the pelvic area and the removable, very warm inner lining , also known as the liner, are characteristic. Often the military-specific parka comes with a (detachable) hood with fur trim. In the course of the military look (a fad) and also because of its practicality, the parka has been adopted by the civilian population as a sporty, dark green or dark blue all-purpose jacket or short coat since the late 1960s . In addition, for many wearers it was the outward sign of an inner basic attitude (see also clothing of the “Mods” in The Who classic “Quadrophenia” ).

In the 1970s to 1980s, a green, sometimes blue parka (usually a shell parka ) was a popular item of clothing, initially for many male and later female students in the GDR . As a supporter of the blueser or customer scene , the item of clothing should symbolize freedom , authenticity and nonconformism and was part of youth culture . A blueser was a synthesis of a blues or rock fan and a flower child .

See also

• Jacket
• Amauti , parka of the Eskimo mothers
• List of clothing items

Web links

Wiktionary: Parka  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

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

Remarks

1. ↑ Duden search. Retrieved January 18, 2011 . 
2. ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parka , Retrieved April 4, 2014