I think they are a take off of the Shooting Jacket, which also had a leather patch on the shoulder for the butt of a gun. Professors and writers don't need shoulder patches so they only have them on the elbows.
Type of clothing: it's usually worn by men. A cloth jacket and it has leather patches where the elbows are. Often seen in old movies being worn by writers who are typing away working on their novels. Is there a name for this style of jacket?
Mr. Rodgers use to wear one on his show.
I believe its called a cardigan.
It was called a "I can't afford a new jacket, so I will put leather patches on the elbows to cover the worn parts" but it became popular. Don't know what they call it now. It became a fad, and tailors started making jackets with the patches.
Usually some sort of English Tweed hunting jacket of sorts.
Many Englishmen wore when hunting game fowl such as Pheasant, Quail or Duck. Later, it was still considered a sport jacket look that was incorporated into regular everyday fashion.