“The parasol is the umbrella’s daughter. And associates with a fan. While her father abuts the tempest. And abridges the rain.”
—Poet Emily Dickinson
Umbrellas were invented to protect the pharaohs from the sun. An umbrella was a symbol of wealth and power. Did you know that umbrella parts were found in a Chinese tomb dated to 25 B.C.?
Ancient frescos from the Ajanta Caves of the second century B.C. reflect the ancient history of umbrellas in India. Only monarchs were permitted to use the nava-danda. That was a seven-tiered parasol of scarlet and gold dressed in 32 strings of pearls, with a pure gold frame, ruby handle, and diamond knob. When the Prince of Wales visited India in 1887 he was shaded at all times with a massive umbrella.
In Burma, the king was called “King of the White Elephants and Lord of the Twenty-Four Umbrellas.” Or, he was called “Lord of the Great Parasol.” In China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), an extraordinary detailed system of class-based umbrella etiquette was in practice. A general carried two large red silk umbrellas. The four highest Mandarins carried black models with a red silk lining and lesser nobility were permitted two flounces. Gentlemen commoners had red umbrellas with a gourd-shaped knob of tin. There is no historical mention of women and umbrellas.
From this aristocratic view of the umbrellas to the American colonies in the early 18th Century, we read that umbrellas indicated a low-status because it meant that the persons had no carriage. It was in 1772 that a Baltimore shopkeeper walked into the street with the first seen umbrella and “pedestrians stood transfixed, women were frightened, and children ran away.”
Fast forward to 1894 when a London writer wrote that, “It is the habitual carriage of the umbrella that is the stamp of Respectability.” Others have described an umbrella as creating a “portable room” or a “private sky” and a “hat with a handle.”
I saw a review of the 2017 book “Brolliology” written by Marion Rankine and published in London that was very interesting and informative. Those in the United Kingdom call an umbrella the brolly. I found the book at the Oswego Public Library and enjoyed reading it. So today you will learn more about umbrellas.
In 1855 more than 300 patents were submitted for improvements to the umbrella’s design and manufacture. The poet Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote an essay in 1894 entitled “The Philosophy of Umbrellas.” He wrote that the umbrella “implies a certain comfortable provision of fortune…it is the habitual carriage of the umbrella that has become the acknowledged index of social position.”
How many do you own? Do you keep an umbrella in your car in case of a sudden downpour? When you travel do you prefer a plain, black, umbrella or one with an exquisite floral pattern? More than 33 Million umbrellas are sold in the USA each year. Songxia, China makes 500 million umbrellas each year.
The Sunday morning church bells of Our Lady of Mercy in Aurora ring out. It is a rain-filled morning and most have brought umbrellas to protect themselves from the heavy rain.
In the Cynthia Barnett book “Rain: A Natural and Cultural History” (2015) , she devotes an entire chapter to the great articles of rain which includes mackintoshes, windscreen wipers, the walking stick, the cabriolet, rubber boots, and umbrellas.
The umbrellas are dancing in the rain. Spring has come once again and the rain refreshes our spirit. Let us dance as though we are Mary Poppins with the colorful umbrellas skipping along the boulevards.