In this rainy weather, umbrellas will keep you dry as you go about your errands. The word “umbrella” is said to come from the Latin root word “umbra” meaning shade or shadow. Starting in the 16th Century, the umbrella became popular in the western world, especially in the rainy climates of northern Europe. At first, it was considered only an accessory suitable for women. Then the Persian traveller and writer Jonas Hanway (1712-86) carried and used an umbrella publicly in England for 30 years. He popularised umbrella use among men. English gentlemen often referred to their umbrellas as a “Hanway”. These ancient umbrellas or parasols were first designed to provide shade from the sun. The Chinese were the first to waterproof their umbrellas for use as rain protection. They waxed and lacquered their paper parasols in order to use them for rain. By the mid-18th Century, the rain umbrella moved towards an everyday item among women, but it was not until the Englishman Hanway fashioned and carried a rain umbrella on the streets of London in 1750 did men begin to take notice. Although ridiculed at first, Hanway carried a rain umbrella everywhere he went, and by the late 1700’s, the rain umbrella became a common accessory among both men and women. In fact, in the late-1700 and early 1800’s, a “Hanway” evolved to become another name for a rain umbrella. In 1852, Samuel Fox invented the steel ribbed umbrella design. After that, compact collapsible umbrellas were the next major technical innovation in umbrella manufacture, which arrived over a century later. In 1928, Hans Haupt invented the pocket umbrella. In Vienna, she was a student studying sculpture when she developed a prototype for an improved compact foldable umbrella for which she received a patent in September 1929. The umbrella was called “Flirt” and was made by an Austrian company. In Germany, the small foldable umbrellas were made by the company ‘Knirps’, which became a synonym in the German language for small foldable umbrellas in general. Umbrellas have also been crafted into hats as early as 1880 and at least as recently as 1987. According to Umbrella History, some of the most important inventions in the field of umbrellas happened in the 20th Century. Hans Haupt managed to create a foldable pocket umbrella in 1928, and Bradford E Phillips secured a patent in 1969 which described the first “working folding umbrella”. Of course with the rise of technology and ever increasing pacing of fashion, umbrellas even managed to find themselves in many roles - for example as cocktail decorations. Currently, umbrellas represent general utility that is used by everyone, and for that purpose, international manufacturers are producing truly staggering amounts of this device. In the United States alone, over 30 million umbrellas are bought annually, with the majority of them being produced in China.
