The-News-Leader.com - The Way it Was: Gloves have more types than there are fingers on a hand

by John Straka

I've written about shoes, hats, vests and skirts. This column is about gloves. Until I sat down and tried to write a list of different kinds of gloves, I didn't realize how many there were.

You would think the most common gloves would be those used to keep hands warm and you would think the uses of different kinds of gloves would stay the same over time. That's not the way I remember it. Gloves that were used 80 years ago are not needed today and gloves are in use today for purposes that did not exist then.

Mittens, gloves without separate fingers, were much more common in the past. Little kids on their way to school in cold weather wore mittens. To keep from losing one or both, mittens were often tied together with a cord worn around the neck. As soon as the temperature went up a few degrees, the mittens would dangle from the attached cord.

I've seen mittens with a place for just the thump and mittens with a thumb and one finger. I've seen gloves with a thumb and one finger exposed and gloves worn by golfers with all five fingers exposed.

The perforations in driving gloves were to provide air circulation and help evaporate perspiration. All this was before the invention of power steering

There are many kinds of work gloves. I use plain cotton ones for gardening and odd jobs around the house. Railroad engineers almost always wore gloves with long cuffs. Electricians wear special gloves insulated to protect against electrical shock.

One type of glove I have not seen in a long time is the driving glove. I had a pair of light colored pigskin gloves with lots of perforations that were supposed to give a better grip on the steering wheel and protect hands from freezing cold or searing hot steering wheels. Remember, old time steering wheels were made of metal or wood, not plastic. Instead of wearing driving gloves, some drivers used steering wheel covers.

The perforations in driving gloves were to provide air circulation and help evaporate perspiration. All this was before the invention of power steering.

In places where automobile traffic is directed by a police officer, he or she will often wear bright white gloves that can more easily be seen by drivers.

I'm sure that wasn't done in the days of the horse and buggy.

Gloves are about a thousand years old and one special kind of glove that must be among the oldest is the kind used by those in the sport of falconry.

Even now, in 2010, people who work with raptors and birds of prey such as eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls wear gloves made to protect against the birds' talons.

Women wear different kinds of gloves for different purposes than men. I remember when I was dating my wife Helen before we were married, it was the style for women to carry gloves. I said "carry," not wear. A properly dressed woman wore a skirt or dress, hosiery, a hat, and she carried a pair of matching gloves.

To keep up with the latest fashion, Helen carried gloves on our dates.

She would put them in her lap while in the car and forget about them until she got out and her nice clean gloves would fall in the mud. For the rest of our date she had to fold the gloves just so in order to hide the mud stains. Fortunately that style didn't last very long.

Surgical gloves have to be a fairly modern invention.

Not long ago, no one knew about bacteria and doctor and surgeons tended to their patients with bare hands, often unwashed. When washing alone wasn't enough to prevent infection, surgical gloves were used.

Today, doctors, nurses, dentists, paramedics, technicians, lab workers, and others all wear surgical gloves. Often the gloves are worn for a minute or two and discarded.

One type of glove I haven't seen in maybe 60 or 70 years is the glove worn by pallbearers at a funeral. I don't know why, but it was the custom for pallbearers to wear gray cotton gloves that were left on the casket and buried with it. Maybe that was to identify them or to give them some sort of status. I've seen gloves worn at military funerals but those are part of the military uniform.

A muff, sometimes with a pocket inside, was worn to keep women's hands warm. I'd like to see that style come back.

There is something extra feminine about that fashion.