A glove (Middle English from Old English glof) is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each finger are sometimes called gauntlets. Gloves which cover the entire hand or fist but do not have separate finger openings or sheaths are called mittens. Mittens are warmer than gloves made of the same material because fingers maintain their warmth better when they are in contact with each other. Reduced surface area reduces heat loss.

A hybrid of glove and mitten which contains open-ended sheaths for the four fingers (as in a fingerless glove, but not the thumb) and also an additional compartment encapsulating the four fingers as a mitten would. This compartment can be lifted off the fingers and folded back to allow the individual fingers ease of movement and access while the hand remains covered. The usual design is for the mitten cavity to be stitched onto the back of the fingerless glove only, allowing it to be flipped over (normally held back by Velcro or a button) to transform the garment from a mitten to a glove. These hybrids are called convertible mittens or glittens, a combination of "glove" and "mittens".

Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a guard for what a bare hand should not touch. Latex, nitrile rubber or vinyl disposable gloves are often worn by health care professionals as hygiene and contamination protection measures. Police officers often wear them to work in crime scenes to prevent destroying evidence in the scene. Many criminals wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, which makes the crime investigation more difficult. However, not all gloves prevent fingerprints from being left on the crime scene, depending on the material from which the glove is made.

Fingerless gloves are useful where dexterity is required that gloves would restrict. Cigarette smokers and church organists use fingerless gloves. Some gloves include a gauntlet that extends partway up the arm. Cycling gloves for road racing or touring are usually fingerless, as are sailing gloves.

Gloves are made of materials including cloth, knitted or felted wool, leather, rubber, latex, neoprene, and metal (as in mail). Gloves of kevlar protect the wearer from cuts. Gloves and gauntlets are integral components of pressure suits and spacesuits such as the Apollo/Skylab A7L which went to the moon. Spacesuit gloves combine toughness and environmental protection with a degree of sensitivity and flexibility.

Expensive women's fashion gloves are made in France, Canada and other countries. For cheaper male gloves New York State, especially Gloversville, New York is a center of glove manufacturing. More and more glove manufacturing is being done in East Asia, however.

History

During the 13th century, gloves began to be worn by ladies as a fashion ornament. Sumptuary laws were promulgated to restrain this vanity: against samite gloves in Bologna, 1294, against perfumed gloves in Rome, 1560.

A Paris corporation or guild of glovers (gantiers) existed from the thirteenth century. They made them in skin or in fur.

It was not until the 16th century that they reached their greatest elaboration, however, when Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion for wearing them richly embroidered and jewelled, In Paris, the gantiers became gantiers parfumeurs, for the scented oils, musk, ambergris and civet, that perfumed leather gloves, but their trade, which was an introduction at the court of Catherine de Medici, was not specifically recognised until 1656, in a royal brevet. Makers of knitted gloves, which did not retain perfume and had less social cachet, were organised in a separate guild, of bonnetiers who might knit silk as well as wool. Such workers were already organised in the fourteenth century. Knitted gloves were a refined handiwork that required five years of apprenticeship; defective work was subject to confiscation and burning.

Embroidered and jewelled gloves also formed part of the insignia of emperors and kings. Thus Matthew of Paris, in recording the burial of Henry II of England in 1189, mentions that he was buried in his coronation robes with a golden crown on his head and gloves on his hands.

The earliest mittens known to archeologists date to around 1000AD in Latvia. Mittens continue to be part of Latvian national costume today. Wool biodegrades quickly, so it is likely that earlier mittens, possibly in other countries, may have existed but were not preserved. An exception is the specimen found during the excavations of the Early Medieval trading town of Dorestad in the Netherlands. In the harbour area a mitten of wool was discovered dating from the 8th or early 9th century. Many people around the Arctic Circle have used mittens, including other Baltic peoples, Native Americans and Vikings.. Mittens are a common sight on Ski slopes, as they not only provide extra warmth but extra protection from injury.

Idiot mittens describes two mittens connected by a length of yarn, string or lace, threaded through the sleeves of a coat. This arrangement is typically provided for small children to prevent the mittens becoming discarded and lost; when removed, the mittens simply dangle from the cuffs.

Scratch mitts refers to mittens which do not separate the thumb, and are designed to prevent babies who do not yet have fine motor control from scratching their faces.

Standards

These exist to fulfill the PPE requirements.

PPE places gloves into three categories:

References

External Links

Category:Gloves Category:Protective gear Category:Protestant vestments

Jan Brett (born December 1, 1949) is a best-selling American author/illustrator of childrens' books. Her books are known for colorful, detailed depictions of a wide variety of animals and human cultures ranging from Scandinavia to Africa. Her best-known titles include The Hat, The Mitten, The Three Snow Bears and Gingerbread Baby.

Style

Reception

Of Brett's Noah's Ark, PBS Parents said that Parents and their children "will spend many happy hours with this book—identifying the animals and birds on each lavishly illustrated page and rereading the simple, sweet story." In Children's Books in Children's Hands, Temple, Martinez, Yokota, and Naylor include Annie and the Wild Animals and The Mitten in a list of recommended picture books.

Awards and Best Seller Lists

Personal awards

Book awards

Publishing history

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Helene Fischer (born August 5, 1984) is a German singer and entertainer. Since her debut in 2005 she has had won several awards, including three "Echo" awards and three "Krone der Volksmusik" awards.

Upbringing and education

After graduating school, Helene Fischer attended the Frankfurt Stage & Musical School for three years, where she studied singing and acting. During this time, Helene performed on stage at the State Theatre of Darmstadt, as well as on the stage of National Theatre in Frankfurt.

Musical career

Helene's debut on stage took place on May 14, 2005 in a program of the TV channel ARD. It was a duet with the singer Florian Silbereisen. The two later became a couple.

Her popularity has been crowned with success; she has won three prestigious “Echo” (German Grammy) awards, the coveted “Goldene Henne” twice, and the “Krone der Volksmusik” prize three times. All her albums and DVDs have achieved multiple gold and double platinum status. Her songs, with their stories of the everyday worries and woes of home-loving folks, are close to what the English speaking world calls “Country”.

Her circle of fans extends beyond Germany to Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

She has just released her first English album, "The English Ones", produced by Jean Frankfurter, one of the most renowned German producers, composers and arrangers of the past 40 years. The album opens new horizons for Helene: “I have always dreamed of singing my songs in another language. English is the language of Country, the music that we call ’Schlager’. Language is a tool, but it is important that what you sing comes from the heart – and that is what this album is about.”

References

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Category:Living people Category:German female singers Category:German people of Russian descent Category:1984 births