Flat cap
A flat cap is a rounded cap with a small stiff brim in front. The hat is known in Scotland as a bunnet in the Scots language, in Wales as a Dai cap, in New Zealand as a cheese-cutter, in the United States as a driving cap. Cloths used to make the cap include wool and cotton. Less common materials may include linen, or corduroy; the inside of the cap is lined for comfort and warmth. The style can be traced back to the 14th century in Northern England, when it was more to be called a "bonnet"; this term was replaced by "cap" before about 1700, except in Scotland, where it continues to be referred to as a bunnet in Scots. A 1571 Act of the English Parliament was enacted to stimulate domestic wool consumption and general trade, it decreed that on Sundays and holidays, all males over 6 years of age, except for the nobility and "persons of degree", were to wear woollen caps or pay a fine of three farthings per day. The Act was not repealed until 1597, though by the flat cap had become entrenched as a recognised mark of a non-noble subject, such as a burgher, a tradesman, or an apprentice.
The style may have been the same as the Tudor bonnet still used in some styles of academic dress. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, when men predominantly wore some form of headgear, flat caps were worn throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Versions in finer cloth were considered to be suitable casual countryside wear for upper-class Englishmen. Flat caps were worn by fashionable young men in the 1920s. Boys of all classes in the United Kingdom wore flat caps during this period. In the United States, the caps were worn from the 1890s; the cap was at the time standard boys' wear. They were worn to school, for casual wear, with suits. Flat caps were always worn with knicker suits in the 1910s and 1920s. Both flat caps and knickerbockers declined in popularity during the 1930s; the flat cap made its way to southern Italy in the late 1800s brought by British servicemen. In Turkey, the flat cap became the main headgear for men after it became a replacement for the fez, banned by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1925.
One of the flat hats worn in academia is known as a bonnet or Tudor bonnet and derives directly from medieval headgear of the period of the original 1571 Act. It remains ceremonial wear by members of the academic community in many countries as the headgear of doctoral graduates, it has a soft, round crown and a stiff, flat brim. The bonnet is made of black velvet and trimmed, between crown and brim, with gold cord and tassels; some universities opt to trim their bonnets with coloured cord and tassels. Some stylistic varieties of this bonnet are: The Canterbury cap is a flat-topped, soft cloth hat with a round headband deeper at the back than at the front; the Oxford bonnet has a black ribbon between brim. The John Knox cap is a soft, square cap made from black velvet and worn by the doctors of certain Scottish universities, as well as Durham University in England, the University of Calgary, Queens' University in Canada, it is worn by the holders of higher doctorates of the University of Liverpool and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
The academic cap, however, is more used in academia. In British popular culture, the flat cap is associated with older working-class men those in Northern England, the West Country, as personified by Fred Dibnah and comic strip anti-hero Andy Capp; the flat cap's strong connection with the working class and the East End of London is illustrated by Jim Branning of the television soap opera EastEnders and Del-Boy Trotter of Only Fools and Horses. Taxicab and bus drivers are depicted wearing a flat cap, as comedically portrayed by Gareth Hale and Norman Pace's "London cabbies" television sketches. In the BBC show Peaky Blinders, characters show their membership of the Birmingham gang by sewing razor blades into the peak of their flat caps for use as a weapon. AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, a native of Newcastle, customarily wears a flat cap on stage and off; the flat cap can be taken to denote the upper class when affecting casualness. "A toff can be a bit of a chap as well without, as it were, losing face."In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, British public figures including David Beckham, Guy Ritchie, Richard Blackwood, the Prince of Wales wore the flat cap.
The flat cap hat is associated in North American popular culture with city newsboys, the style sometimes being called a "newsboy" or Newsboy cap, sometimes referred to as a "Kangol hat" due to conflation with the brand that makes certain styles of flat caps. The style has remained popular among groups of people in the United Kingdom and North America; the cap is sometimes associated with older men in South Korea, but has been popular among some segments of younger people, for example, in cities such as Boston and Pittsburgh with a large Irish-American population. They are associated with skinheads and the Oi! and punk subcultures. It has sometimes worn back-to-front or cocked to the side, it is very common among men and women in San Francisco, California. In Turkey, it is popular amongst men working-class; the English rugby league team Featherstone Rovers supporters' nickname is "the Flat Cappers", because supporters in years gone by attended matches wearing them as did most other teams' supporters.
The black leather flat ca
Sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed fur and skin clothing using bone, antler or ivory needles and "thread" made of various animal body parts including sinew and veins. For thousands of years, all sewing was done by hand; the invention of the sewing machine in the 19th century and the rise of computerization in the 20th century led to mass production and export of sewn objects, but hand sewing is still practiced around the world. Fine hand sewing is a characteristic of high-quality tailoring, haute couture fashion, custom dressmaking, is pursued by both textile artists and hobbyists as a means of creative expression; the first known use of the word "sewing" was in the 14th century. Sewing has an ancient history estimated to begin during the Paleolithic Era.
Sewing was used to stitch together animal hides for shelter. The Inuit, for example, used sinew from caribou for thread and needles made of bone. Sewing was combined with the weaving of plant leaves in Africa to create baskets, such as those made by Zulu weavers, who used thin strips of palm leaf as "thread" to stitch wider strips of palm leaf, woven into a coil; the weaving of cloth from natural fibres originated in the Middle East around 4000 BC, earlier during the Neolithic Age, the sewing of cloth accompanied this development. During the Middle Ages, Europeans who could afford it employed tailors; the vital importance of sewing was indicated by the honorific position of "Lord Sewer" at many European coronations from the Middle Ages. An example was Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex, appointed Lord Sewer at the coronation of Henry VIII of England in 1509. Sewing for the most part was a woman's occupation, most sewing before the 19th century was practical. Clothing was an expensive investment for most people, women had an important role in extending the longevity of items of clothing.
Sewing was used for mending. Clothing, faded would be turned inside-out so that it could continue to be worn, sometimes had to be taken apart and reassembled in order to suit this purpose. Once clothing became worn or torn, it would be taken apart and the reusable cloth sewn together into new items of clothing, made into quilts, or otherwise put to practical use; the many steps involved in making clothing from scratch meant that women bartered their expertise in a particular skill with one another. Decorative needlework such as embroidery was a valued skill, young women with the time and means would practise to build their skill in this area. From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, sewing tools such as needles and pincushions were included in the trousseaus of many European brides. Decorative embroidery was valued in many cultures worldwide. Although most embroidery stitches in the Western repertoire are traditionally British, Irish or Western European in origin, stitches originating in different cultures are known throughout the world today.
Some examples are the Cretan Open Filling stitch, Romanian Couching or Oriental Couching, the Japanese stitch. The stitches associated with embroidery spread by way of the trade routes that were active during the Middle Ages; the Silk Road brought Chinese embroidery techniques to Western Asia and Eastern Europe, while techniques originating in the Middle East spread to Southern and Western Europe through Morocco and Spain. European imperial settlements spread embroidery and sewing techniques worldwide. However, there are instances of sewing techniques indigenous to cultures in distant locations from one another, where cross-cultural communication would have been unlikely. For example, a method of reverse appliqué known to areas of South America is known to Southeast Asia; the Industrial Revolution shifted the production of textiles from the household to the mills. In the early decades of the Industrial Revolution, the machinery produced whole cloth; the world's first sewing machine was patented in 1790 by Thomas Saint.
By the early 1840s, other early sewing machines began to appear. Barthélemy Thimonnier introduced a simple sewing machine in 1841 to produce military uniforms for France's army. By the 1850s, Isaac Singer developed the first sewing machines that could operate and and surpass the productivity of a seamstress or tailor sewing by hand. While much clothing was still produced at home by female members of the family and more ready-made clothes for the middle classes were being produced with sewing machines. Textile sweatshops full of poorly paid sewing machine operators grew into entire business districts in large cities like London and New York City. To further support the industry, piece work was done for little money by women living in slums. Needlework was one of the few occupations considered acceptable for women, but it did not pay a living wage. Women doing piece work from home worked 14-hour days to earn enough to support themselves, sometimes by renting sewing machines that they could not afford to buy.
Tailors became associated with higher-end clothing during this period. In London, this status grew out of the dandy trend of the early 19th century, when new tailor shops were established around Savile Row
Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London, England associated with the silk and velvet trades. The Haberdashers' Company follows the Mercers' Company in precedence, receiving its first Royal Charter in 1448 and holds records dating back to 1371; the formal name under which it is incorporated is The Master and Four Wardens of the Fraternity of the Art or Mystery of Haberdashers in the City of London. The company was responsible for the regulation of silk and velvet merchants, but began losing control over those trades as the population of London increased and spread outwards from the City after the Industrial Revolution. Through careful stewardship of corporate bequests and funds, the company now serves as a significant educational and charitable institution whilst maintaining links with its heritage by giving awards for fashion education; as an educational foundation, the Haberdashers' Company maintains a strong tradition of supporting schools.
It founded a boys' school in Hoxton in 1690, following redevelopment of the site, in June 1875, it reopened the school, now divided into two, educating boys and girls. At the same time, it opened a girls school in Hatcham, South London; the Hoxton Boys' School moved to Hampstead, North London, subsequently to Elstree in 1961 to become the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree. The Girls' School, founded in Hoxton moved to Creffield Road, opening on 1 November 1989 with 47 Hoxton pupils and 12 new girls, working in a temporary iron building. In September 1974, it opened on its present site in Elstree as Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, adjacent to the Boys' School; the original Hatcham schools is now run by the Haberdashers' Company, as Hatcham Academy, open to girls and boys. In 1990, at Haberdashers' School, the Glover Music School was established funded by Dr Jane Glover CBE, sister of a Past Master. In keeping with its Christian tradition, the Haberdashers' Company continues to present copies of the King James Bible to starters at all its schools.
The company takes an interest in the patronage of its eight parish church advowsons. The company is sole trustee of two major educational charities: Haberdashers' Aske's Charity and the William Jones's Schools Foundation; the company ranks eighth in the order of precedence of City livery companies and, as such, it is recognised as one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Like other livery companies, it supports the work of the Lord Mayor, the City of London Corporation and the Sheriffs of London. HRH The Earl of Wessex serves on the Haberdashers' Court of Assistants. Haberdashers' Hall was situated near the Guildhall in Bassishaw Ward for many centuries, but from 2002 the company took additional premises in the City Ward of Farringdon Without where it is now based; the Haberdashers' motto is "Serve and Obey". The Haberdashers' Company moved to its new hall at 18 West Smithfield on 15 April 2002, located opposite the King Henry Gate of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. On 24 October 2002 Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed by the Master Haberdasher, Nicholas Lund, to formally declare its Hall open.
Haberdashers' Hall, with its various meeting and function rooms as well as offices, is centred on a cloistered courtyard, entered through the façade at Market View and includes residential apartments and retail units. On the south side of the property, the company has developed office space which opens onto Hosier Lane. Within the hall, its cloisters to the right-hand side lead via a circular staircase to the first floor where its Court Room, Committee Room and a luncheon room lead off a reception gallery; the reception gallery leads to the banquet hall, which has a high vaulted ceiling and is oak-panelled. There are offices for company staff, facilities for catering staff with storage and cellars below the hall, together with accommodation for the Master and the Beadle; the Clerk to the Haberdashers' Company, since 2013, is Commodore Philip Thicknesse RN, the Revd Canon David Parrott serves as Honorary Chaplain. Haberdashers' Abraham Darby, Telford, Shropshire Haberdashers' Adams, Shropshire Aldersey Church of England Primary School, Cheshire Haberdashers' Agincourt School, Monmouth Haberdashers' Aske's Crayford Academy, Kent Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College, London SE14 Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Temple Grove School, London SE14 Haberdashers' Aske's Knight's Academy, Kent Haberdashers' Aske's Knight's Temple Grove School, London Borough of Bromley Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Hertfordshire Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, Hertfordshire Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, Monmouth Monmouth School, Monmouth West Monmouth School 1483-44: Sir Robert Billesdon 1532-33: Sir Stephen Peacock 1538-39: Sir William Fermor 1552-53: Sir George Barne 1555-56: Sir William Gerard 1579-80: Sir Nicholas Woodroffe 1582-83: Sir Thomas Blanke 1586-87: Sir George Barne MP 1587-88: Sir George Bond 1596-97: Sir Henry Billingsley 1600-01: Sir William Ryder 1601-02: Sir John Gerard 1604-05: Sir Thomas Lowe 1620-21: Sir Francis Jones 1627-28: Sir Hugh Hamersley 1631-32: Sir George Whitmore 1632-33: Sir Nicholas Rainton 1637-38: Sir Richard Fenn 1652-53: John Fowke MP 1664-65: Sir John Lawrence 1688-89: Sir John Chapman 1699-00: Sir Richard Levett 1717-18: Sir William Lewen 1725-26: Sir Francis Forbes 1726-27: Sir John Eyles, Bt 1733-34: Sir William Billers 1738-39: Micajah Perry
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally suits and men's clothing. Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats and similar garments of wool, linen, or silk; the term refers to a set of specific hand and machine sewing and pressing techniques that are unique to the construction of traditional jackets. Retailers of tailored suits take their services internationally, traveling to various cities, allowing the client to be measured locally. Traditional tailoring is called "bespoke tailoring" in the United Kingdom, where the heart of the trade is London's Savile Row tailoring, "custom tailoring" in the United States and Hong Kong; this is unlike made to measure pre-existing patterns. A bespoke garment or suit is original and unique to each customer. Famous fictional tailors include the tailor in The Tailor of Gloucester, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Valiant Little Tailor.
A more recent example is John le Carré. As the tailoring profession has evolved, so too have the methods of tailoring. There are a number of distinctive business models. While some may practice many, there are others who will practice only two. Local tailoring is; the tailor is met locally and the garment produced locally. This method enables the tailor to take professional measurements, assess posture and body shape to make unique modifications to the garment. Local tailors will have a showroom or shopfront allowing clients to choose fabrics from samples or return the garment should it require further modification; this is the most traditional form of tailoring. Hong Kong Tailors and London are the most famous for high quality bespoke tailoring, in average it takes about 2 to 3 fittings and about 50 to 70 working hours to handmake one suit. Distance tailoring involves ordering a garment from an out-of-town tailor enabling cheaper labour to be used. In practice this can now be done on a global scale via e-commerce websites.
Unlike local tailoring, customers must take their own measurements, fabric selection must be made from a photo and if further alterations are required the garment must be shipped. Today, the most common platform for distance tailoring is via online tailors. Online tailors sometimes offer to pay for needed alterations at a local tailor. Another new option is the concept where a free test suit is made to the provided measurements and shipped to the customer first; the test suit can be worn to see where any adjustments are wanted. The final suit is tailored to the new specifications provided by the test suit fitting. Unlike tailors who do distance tailoring, traveling tailors provide a more personal service to their customers and give the customers an opportunity to see the fabric samples and meet the tailor in person. Traveling tailors travel between cities and station in a local luxury hotel for a short period of time to meet and provide the same tailoring services they would provide in their local store.
In the hotel, the customer will be able to select the fabric from samples and the tailor will take the measurements himself. The order will be shipped to the customer within 3–4 weeks time. Unlike local tailoring, if further alterations are required the garment must be shipped. Today, most traveling tailors are from Hong Kong, traveling to the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Japan. A tailor-made is a man's suit consisting of pants; as an adjective, tailor-made refers to clothing made by or in the style of clothes made by a tailor, characterized by simplicity of cut and trim and fine finishing. Rodeo tailor is a term for a creator of the flamboyant costumes typical of country and western musicians, characterized by extensive hand embroidery, an abundance of rhinestones, cowboy details such as pearl snaps and arrowhead pockets. In some documents, tailor means adjust, tailoring means adjusting. Sewing professional is the most general term for those who make their living by sewing, writing about sewing, or retailing sewing supplies.
They may work out of their home, a studio, or retail shop, may work part-time or full-time. They may be any or all or the following sub-specialties: A custom clothier makes custom garments one at a time, to order, to meet an individual customer's needs and preferences. A custom dressmaker specializes in women's custom apparel, including day dresses, evening or bridal wear, sportswear, or lingerie. A tailor makes custom menswear-style trousers. A cutter cuts out, from lengths of the panels that make up a suit. In bespoke tailoring, the cutter may measure the client, advise them on style choices, commission craftsmen to sew the suit. An alterations specialist, or alterationist adjusts the fit of completed garments ready-to-wear, or restyles them. Note that while all tailors can do alterations, not all alterationists can do tailoring. Designers conceive combinations of line, proportion and texture for intended garments, they may or may not have sewing or patternmaking skills, may only sketch or conceptualize garments.
They work with people who know how to construct the garment. Patternmakers flat draft the shapes and sizes of the numerous pieces of a garment by hand, using paper and measuring tools or by computer using AutoCAD based software, or by draping muslin onto a dress
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world; the Irish Sea lies between Great Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world, it is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017. The UK is constitutional monarchy; the current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.
The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire conurbations, Greater Glasgow and the Liverpool Built-up Area; the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution; the nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language and political systems of many of its former colonies; the United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a high Human Development Index rating, ranking 14th in the world, it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally, it is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
It has been a leading member state of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization; the 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was "Great Britain"; the Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, Scotland and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom; some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice revealing one's political preferences"; the term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole; the term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain, as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed, with the BBC preferring to use Britain as shorthand only for Great Britain and the UK Government, while accepting that both terms refer to the United K
Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was nicknamed the "Flying Finn". Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres, won nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated for 121 races at distances from 800 m upwards. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m. Born into a working-class family, Nurmi left school at the age of twelve to provide for his family. In 1912, he was inspired by the Olympic feats of Hannes Kolehmainen and began developing a strict training program. Nurmi started to flourish during his military service, setting national records en route to his international debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics. After winning a silver medal in the 5000 m, he took gold in the 10,000 m and the cross country events. In 1923, Nurmi became the first runner to hold simultaneous world records in the mile, the 5000 m and the 10,000 m races, a feat which has never since been repeated.
He set new world records for the 1500 m and the 5000 m with just an hour between the races, took gold medals in both distances in less than two hours at the 1924 Olympics. Unaffected by the Paris heat wave, Nurmi won all his races and returned home with five gold medals, although he was frustrated that Finnish officials had refused to enter him for the 10,000 m. Struggling with injuries and motivation issues after his exhaustive U. S. tour in 1925, Nurmi found his long-time rivals Ville Ritola and Edvin Wide more serious challengers. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, Nurmi recaptured the 10,000 m title but was beaten for the gold in the 5000 m and the 3000 m steeplechase, he turned his attention to longer distances, breaking the world records for events such as the one hour run and the 25-mile marathon. Nurmi intended to end his career with a marathon gold medal. In a controversial case that strained Finland–Sweden relations and sparked an inter-IAAF battle, Nurmi was suspended before the 1932 Games by an IAAF council that questioned his amateur status.
Although he was never declared a professional, Nurmi's suspension became definite in 1934 and he retired from running. Nurmi coached Finnish runners, raised funds for Finland during the Winter War, worked as a haberdasher, building contractor, share trader becoming one of Finland's richest people. In 1952, he was the lighter of the Olympic Flame at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Nurmi's running speed and elusive personality spawned nicknames such as the "Phantom Finn", while his achievements, training methods and running style influenced future generations of middle- and long-distance runners. Nurmi, who ran without a stopwatch in his hand, has been credited for introducing the "even pace" strategy and analytic approach to running, for making running a major international sport. Nurmi was born in Turku, Finland, to carpenter Johan Fredrik Nurmi and his wife Matilda Wilhelmiina Laine. Nurmi's siblings, Saara and Lahja, were born in 1898, 1902, 1905 and 1908, respectively. In 1903, the Nurmi family moved from Raunistula into a 40-square-meter apartment in central Turku, where Paavo Nurmi would live until 1932.
The young Nurmi and his friends were inspired by the English long-distance runner Alfred Shrubb. They ran or walked six kilometres to swim in Ruissalo, back, sometimes twice a day. By the age of eleven, Nurmi ran the 1500 metres in 5:02. Nurmi's father Johan died in his sister Lahja a year later; the family struggled financially, renting out their kitchen to another family and living in a single room. Nurmi, a talented student, left school to work as an errand boy for a bakery. Although he stopped running he got plenty of exercise pushing heavy carts up the steep slopes in Turku, he credited these climbs for strengthening his back and leg muscles. At 15, Nurmi rekindled his interest in athletics after being inspired by the performances of Hannes Kolehmainen, said to "have run Finland onto the map of the world" at the 1912 Summer Olympics, he bought his first pair of sneakers a few days later. Nurmi trained by doing cross country running in the summers and cross country skiing in the winters. In 1914, Nurmi won his first race on the 3000 metres.
Two years he revised his training program to include walking and calisthenics. He continued to provide for his family through his new job at the Ab. H. Ahlberg & Co workshop in Turku, where he worked until he started his military service at a machine gun company in the Pori Brigade in April 1919. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918, Nurmi remained politically passive and concentrated on his work and his Olympic ambitions. After the war, he decided not to join the newly founded Finnish Workers' Sports Federation, but wrote articles for the federation's chief organ and criticized the discrimination against many of his fellow workers and athletes. In the army, Nurmi impressed in the athletic competitions: While others marched, Nurmi ran the whole distances with a rifle on his shoulder and a backpack full of sand. Nurmi's stubbornness caused him difficulties with his non-commissioned officers, but he was favoured by the superior officers, despite his refusal to take the soldier's oath; as the unit commander Hugo Österman was a known sports aficionado and few other athletes were given free time to practice.
Nurmi improvised new training methods in the army barracks.
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes worn. Soldiers wear helmets made from lightweight plastic materials; the word helmet is diminutive from a medieval word for protective combat headgear. The medieval great helm covers the whole head and is accompanied with camail protecting throat and neck as well. A helmet was a helm which covered the head only and protected it from injury in accidents. In civilian life, helmets are used for recreational sports. Since the 1990s, most helmets are made from resin or plastic, which may be reinforced with fibers such as aramids; some British gamekeepers during the 18th and 19th centuries wore helmets made of straw bound together with cut bramble. Europeans in the tropics wore the pith helmet, developed in the mid-19th century and made of pith or cork. Military applications in the 19th-20th centuries saw a number of leather helmets among aviators and tank crews in the early 20th century.
In the early days of the automobile, some motorists adopted this style of headgear, early football helmets were made of leather. In World War II, Soviet, German and French flight crews wore leather helmets, the German pilots disguising theirs under a beret before disposing of both and switching to cloth caps; the era of the First and Second World Wars saw a resurgence of metal military helmets, most notably the Brodie helmet and the Stahlhelm. Modern helmets have a much wider range of applications, including helmets adapted to the specific needs of many athletic pursuits and work environments, these helmets often incorporate plastics and other synthetic materials for their light weight and shock absorption capabilities; some types of synthetic fibers used to make helmets in the 21st century include Aramid and Twaron. Helmets of many different types have developed over time. Most early helmets had military uses, though some may have had more ceremonial than combat applcations. Two important helmet types to develop in antiquity were the Roman galea.
During the Middle Ages, many different military helmets and some ceremonial helmets were developed all being metal. Some of the more important medieval developments included the great helm, the bascinet, the frog-mouth helm and the armet; the great seal of Owain Glyndŵr depicts the prince of Wales & his stallion wearing full armour, they both wear protective headgear with Owain's gold dragon mounted on top, this would have been impractical in battle so therefore these would have been ceremonial. In the 19th century, more materials were incorporated, namely leather and pith; the pith helmet and the leather pickelhaube were important 19th century developments. The greatest expansion in the variety of forms and composition of helmets, took place in the 20th century, with the development of specialized helmets for a multitude of athletic and professional applications, as well as the advent of modern plastics. During World War I, the French army developed the Adrian helmet, the British developed the Brodie helmet, the Germans produced the Stahlhelm.
Flight helmets were developed throughout the 20th century. A multitude of athletic helmets, including football helmets, batting helmets, cricket helmets, bicycle helmets, motorcycle helmets and racing helmets, were developed in the 20th century. Helmets since the mid-20th century have incorporated lightweight plastics and other synthetic materials, their use has become specialized; some important recent developments include the French SPECTRA helmet, Spanish MARTE helmet or the American PASGT and Advanced Combat Helmet, or ACH. As the coat of arms was designed to distinguish noble combatants on the battlefield or in a tournament while covered in armour, it is not surprising that heraldic elements incorporated the shield and the helmet, these being the most visible parts of a knight's military equipment; the practice of indicating peerage through the display of barred or grilled helmets first appeared around 1587-1615, the heraldic convention of displaying helmets of rank in the United Kingdom, which came into vogue around Stuart times, is as follows: Sovereign: a gold barred-face helm placed affronté Peer's helmet: silver barred-face helm placed in profile Knight's or baronet's helmet: steel helm placed affronté with visor open Esquire's helmet: steel helm placed in profile with visor closedEarlier rolls of arms reveal, that early heraldic helmets were depicted in a manner faithful to the styles in actual military or tournament use at the time.
Helmets portal Balaclava Cap Combat helmet Face shield Firefighter's helmet Helmet boxing The Stackhat "Helmets... A Medieval Note In Modern Warfare", August 1942, Popular Science evolution of military helmets
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