>__With a cultural historian on the trail of a Swiss cultural heritage that has shaped generations.__
>Tigerfinkli – a term almost every Swiss person knows. There is hardly a child in kindergarten or daycare who has not worn a pair of these colorful slippers with a red pom-pom at least once. They shape the childhood memories of numerous Swiss children across generations.
>But where does the name actually come from? After all, the slippers aren’t striped like a tiger, but spotted. Fritz Franz Vogel, a cultural historian and passionate collector of Tigerfinkli, investigated this question. “The name probably comes from children who compared the pattern of the slippers to the stripes of a little tiger,” he explains. In the 19th century, “Tigerchen” was often used as a pet name for young kittens.
>__The Origin of the Tigerfinkli__
>The history of these slippers goes far back. “As early as 1890, the shoe company Bally in Schönenwerd was producing slippers sold under the name ‘Pantoufle Tigers’,” says Vogel. However, there are no photos of the slippers for women, men, and children that were offered at that time. It wasn’t until 1917 that pictures of Tigerfinkli first appeared in the Jelmoli catalog. From then on, the success story of the Tigerfinkli in Switzerland began.
>The name “Tigerfinkli,” which now adorns the packaging, only dates back to 1938. At that time, production was moved from Schönenwerd in Solothurn to Fehraltorf in Zurich, where the company Edi Glogg AG produced the slippers under the watchful eye of Bally. At its peak, 80,000 pairs were produced annually.
>For over forty years, production took place in Fehraltorf, explaining the strong connection to the community in the Zurich Oberland.
>__From Switzerland to the World__
>Although Tigerfinkli are now considered almost a cultural asset in Switzerland, production has long since moved abroad. In the 1980s, a new owner took over the brand, and production was initially moved to Diessenhofen in the canton of Thurgau and later to Poland. Today, the brand belongs to Tiger Suisse AG, based in Zurich. The slippers are no longer purely a Swiss product, says the cultural historian.
>For Fritz Franz Vogel, however, they remain a high-quality house slipper with a unique design: “Bally really worked on the idea of giving the slipper its own character and special quality. That’s the iconic part, having something that everyone talks about.”
>And so, the Tigerfinkli remain a piece of everyday Swiss history – even though they are now manufactured far beyond Swiss borders.
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Translated Article:
>__With a cultural historian on the trail of a Swiss cultural heritage that has shaped generations.__
>Tigerfinkli – a term almost every Swiss person knows. There is hardly a child in kindergarten or daycare who has not worn a pair of these colorful slippers with a red pom-pom at least once. They shape the childhood memories of numerous Swiss children across generations.
>But where does the name actually come from? After all, the slippers aren’t striped like a tiger, but spotted. Fritz Franz Vogel, a cultural historian and passionate collector of Tigerfinkli, investigated this question. “The name probably comes from children who compared the pattern of the slippers to the stripes of a little tiger,” he explains. In the 19th century, “Tigerchen” was often used as a pet name for young kittens.
>__The Origin of the Tigerfinkli__
>The history of these slippers goes far back. “As early as 1890, the shoe company Bally in Schönenwerd was producing slippers sold under the name ‘Pantoufle Tigers’,” says Vogel. However, there are no photos of the slippers for women, men, and children that were offered at that time. It wasn’t until 1917 that pictures of Tigerfinkli first appeared in the Jelmoli catalog. From then on, the success story of the Tigerfinkli in Switzerland began.
>The name “Tigerfinkli,” which now adorns the packaging, only dates back to 1938. At that time, production was moved from Schönenwerd in Solothurn to Fehraltorf in Zurich, where the company Edi Glogg AG produced the slippers under the watchful eye of Bally. At its peak, 80,000 pairs were produced annually.
>For over forty years, production took place in Fehraltorf, explaining the strong connection to the community in the Zurich Oberland.
>__From Switzerland to the World__
>Although Tigerfinkli are now considered almost a cultural asset in Switzerland, production has long since moved abroad. In the 1980s, a new owner took over the brand, and production was initially moved to Diessenhofen in the canton of Thurgau and later to Poland. Today, the brand belongs to Tiger Suisse AG, based in Zurich. The slippers are no longer purely a Swiss product, says the cultural historian.
>For Fritz Franz Vogel, however, they remain a high-quality house slipper with a unique design: “Bally really worked on the idea of giving the slipper its own character and special quality. That’s the iconic part, having something that everyone talks about.”
>And so, the Tigerfinkli remain a piece of everyday Swiss history – even though they are now manufactured far beyond Swiss borders.