SHELTER ON A RAINY DAY

UMBRELLA DAY...FEBRUARY 10TH

     Umbrella is synonymous with the term parasol, the latter of which was actually first used as a protection against the scorching heat of the sun. While many parasols are not waterproof, umbrellas on the other hand are made of materials designed to protect us from the rain.  Both come in large versions suitable for use with patio tables and other outdoor furniture, as well as shade at the beach and golf course.  Smaller hand held styles of the umbrella offer portable, fashionable, coverage on rainy days and shade from the scorching sun other times.

    

     Britains sometimes call their umbrellas "gamps" after an umbrella toting character of the same name in the Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit.  Brolly is a slang word for umbrella most often heard in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and sometimes even Britain.  Bumbershoot is a fanciful Americanism from the late 1800's.

     In Ancient Greece, the parasol, was an indispensable accessory to a lady of fashion in the late 5th century BC.  During the 17th century Explorers wrote of large umbrellas carried by attendents of Burmese and Indian princes, while an early envoy to Siam told of the King having 2 or 3 umbrellas fastened together on a one stick, and the nobles carried a single umbrella with painted cloths hanging from it.

     A modern umbrella of today's China looks exactly like those shown in the Song Dynasty Chinese divination book that was printed in about 1270 CE featuring a picture of a collapsible umbrella.  The Chinese design was later brought to Japan via Korea and also introduced to Persia and the Western world via the Silk Road.  The Chinese and Japanese traditional parasol, often used near temples, to this day remains similar to the original ancient Chinese design.

     The people of China learned to waterproofed their umbrellas by waxing and lacquering their paper Parasols. The transition to the present portable form is due, partly to the substitution of silk and gingham for the heavy and troublesome oiled silk, which resulted in the ribs and frames being made much lighter.  Modern designs most often rely on a telescoping steel trunk and new materials such as plastic film, cotton and nylon.  Samuel Fox is credited with having invented the steel-ribbed umbrella in 1852. 

     Umbrellas continue to be actively developed.  There are expensive versions with carved wooden handles, others with LED lights built in, even others that collapse down to a mere few inches for ease of storage, and more styles, colors, and prints available than most of us could imagine. 

 In the U.S. alone, so many umbrella-related patents are currently being filed that the U.S. Patent Office has to employ four full-time examiners to assess them all and as of 2008, three thousand active patents on umbrella-related inventions have been registered at the office.  What a mind boggling thought.  I can't imagine a single thing I would change about my cira 1965 navy blue, hand me down.

  

TOTES Umbrellas

Samsonite Umbrellas

American Tourister Umbrellas