History of the Umbrella
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The basic umbrella was invented over 4000 years ago. Evidence of an umbrella style structure being used can be seen in the art and on artifacts of ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece and China. These ancient umbrellas or parasols were first designed to provide shade from the sun. The Chinese were the first to create what we now think of as an umbrella by waxing and lacquering their paper parasols for use as rain protection. The word "umbrella" comes from the Latin root word "umbra", meaning shade or shadow. Starting in the 16th century the umbrella became popular to the western world, especially in the rainy weather of northern Europe. 
The famed philanthropist, traveler and writer Jonas Hanway (1712-86) carried and used an umbrella publicly in England for over thirty years. Always a handsome and well-dressed man, he developed a habit of carrying both a sword and an umbrella, which attracted a lot of attention since swords had long fallen out of fashion and umbrellas were the strict domain of women. Jonas's eccentric behaviour was key in spreading the use of umbrellas among English gentleman, who often referred to their umbrellas as a 'Hanway'. The early European umbrellas were made of wood or whalebone and covered with alpaca or oiled canvas. Artisans made the curved handles for the umbrellas and were well paid for their efforts. In 1852, Samuel Fox invented the steel ribbed umbrella design. Fox also founded The English Steels Company, and claimed to have invented the steel ribbed umbrella as a way of using up stocks of the steel stays used in women's corsets. Over a century later the next major technical innovation in umbrella manufacture was the compact collapsible umbrella. |
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