Did
you know...
The Yankees and the Knickerbockers
Two venerable names in New York sports whose origins were not necessarily athletic. The
term Knickerbockers was conceived from a history of the city of New York written by
Washington Irving, then a young lawyer struggling to make a living. He published his work
under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker and it rapidly became known as Knickerbockers
History of New York.
The early nineteenth century saw a cultural battle unfolding between a group of New
England socialites with an evangelical fervor that were coming to New York to capitalize
on its business and economic growth. The other end of the spectrum consisted of
Anglo-Dutch and Hueguenot heritage who referred to themselves as the Knickerbockers after
Irving’s work. The Knickerbockers, a name that meant bakers of marbles, did not share
the intense religious orientation of the newly arrived "Yankees" as the New
England Elitists were named.
The "Yankees" and the Knickerbockers commenced a bitter rivalry of values and
life styles, centered predominately around religious observance and attitudes towards
literature and the theater. Each group established clubs and associations designed to
bring attention to their own views of business, religion, and society.
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