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Amuff is a fashion accessory for outdoors usually made of a cylinder offur orfabric with both ends open for keeping the hands warm. It was introduced to women's fashion in the 16th century and was popular with both men and women in the 17th and 18th centuries. By the early 19th century, muffs were used in Europe only by women.[1] It is also reported[according to whom?] that the fashion largely fell out of style in the 19th century.
It briefly returned in the mid-1940s,[2] and in the 1960s was developed as amotorcycle accessory for attachment as rider-protection and comfort during the cooler months.
In Roman times, the place of theglove was taken by long sleeves (manicae) reaching to the hand, and in winter special sleeves of fur were worn. In Medieval Latin we find the wordmuffulae, defined byDu Cange aschirothecae pellitae et hibernae ("leather winter gloves"). He quotes from acartulary of the year 817, of the issuing to monks ofsheepskin coverings to be used during the winter. These may have been, as the Roman certainly were, separate coverings for each hand, although the cartulary cited also distinguishes the glove for summer from the muffulae for winter wear. TheOld Frenchmoufle meant a thick glove or mitten, and from this theDutchmof,Walloonmouffe, and thenceEnglish "muff", are probably derived.[1]
In Elizabethan and Stuart England, the muff was sometimes called a "countenance" following a French usage. In 1579,Amias Paulet bought a fur "countenance" in Paris forElizabeth I.[3]
Handlebar muffs are a utility product for motorcycles and scooters to provide increased comfort in adverse weather conditions, to protect the rider from rain andwind chill. With UK commercial-availability in the early 1960s,[4] they are still available in three variations from a UK merchandiser of motorcycle accessories, including dedicated-types for small motorscooters.[5]
Traditionally made from waterprooffaux leather and lined for insulation, more-modern,textile-based materials are also used.[4][5][6][7]
When reviewing clothing and riding accessories in a 1966 feature entitled "Tough Weather Gear" for the weekly journalMotor Cycle, regular journalist John Ebbrell described the muffs as:[8][9]
Ugly as sin they may be—but there's nothing more cosier to the fingertips than a pair of handlebar muffs...Material is waterproof plasticized fabric, lined. Fitted in a jiffy, the muffs are sold through Pride and Clarke's and cost 17s 6d.
Writing at his website in December 2010, American motorcycle design innovatorCraig Vetter claimed to have "created and developed" from 1971 what he calledHippo Hands, later sold to the public from 1973 by the Vetter organisation.[10][11] These were very similar to a product that was easily available to UK motorcyclists from retail shops/mail order outlets from 1957,[12] with the descriptionhandlebar muffs.[4][13][14][15][5][16]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Muff".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 955.
