Umbrella

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Lore & Background

The word umbrella evolved from the Latin umbra, meaning 'shadow' or 'shade from light', as it provided shade from the sun. The Oxford English Dictionary records the first usage in this sense in 1611. The word parasol combines Latin parare and sol, meaning 'sun'. Parapluie (French) combines para with pluie, meaning 'rain' (from Latin pluvia). Paraneige (French) combines para with neige, meaning 'snow' (from Latin nix). Hence, a parasol shields from sunlight, a parapluie shields from rain, and a paraneige shields from snow. In Britain, umbrellas were sometimes called 'gamps' after Mrs. Gamp in Charles Dickens' novel Martin Chuzzlewit, though this usage is now dated. In India, the word छात्र (chhatra) has been used since ancient times, representing that which gives छाया (chhaya), meaning shade or shadow from the Sun. Brolly is a slang word for umbrella used often in Australia, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Bumbershoot is a rare Americanism from the late 19th century. An umbrella may also be called a sunshade, rainshade, snowshade, or beach umbrella (US English).

In Their Own Story

The earliest known umbrellas in Ancient Egyptian art date back to the Fifth Dynasty, around 2450 BC. Typically depicted as a flabellum, a fan of palm-leaves or coloured feathers fixed on a long handle, resembling those carried behind the Pope in processions. Gardiner Wilkinson's work on Egypt shows an engraving of an Ethiopian princess travelling through Upper Egypt in a chariot with a kind of umbrella fastened to a stout pole rising in the centre, bearing close affinity to what are now termed chaise umbrellas. According to Wilkinson, the umbrella was generally used throughout Egypt, partly as a mark of distinction, but more for its useful than ornamental qualities. In some paintings on a temple wall, a parasol is held over the figure of a god carried in procession. Zeinab Badawi in An African History of Africa states the umbrella was introduced by the Dutch to the Ashanti, when Osei Kofi Tutu I received one as a gift following his defeat of the other Akan kingdoms. Later, in 1707, Sir Dalby Thomas asked the British to supply the Asante with umbrellas. By the 1800s, the Amanhene (senior chiefs) used large multicolored umbrellas during festivals, paraded through the streets of Kumasi. Like the Asantehene's umbrella bearer, others spun their umbrellas in tune with drummers' music while accompanying their 'Ohene'. Umbrellas provided coolness and highlighted the importance of various leaders.

Reader's Guide

The district of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan used an umbrella made from feathers and gold as its pantli, an identifying marker equivalent to a modern flag, carried by the army general. Beehler Umbrella Factory, established in 1828, was the first umbrella manufacturing company in the United States. Francis Beehler, a woodcarver from Germany, immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland, and noticed a lack of umbrellas, as Americans generally scorned them for their 'ridiculous effeminacy'. He used his talents making wooden poles and whale bone ribbed umbrellas to create a new market (steel rib designs appeared after 1852). Beehler's success attracted competitors. Baltimore was long recognized as the umbrella capital of the country; at the industry's peak in 1920, seven umbrella companies in the city produced millions of umbrellas annually. The oldest extant example of an umbrella appears around 2310 BC in a victory stele of Sargon of Akkad. In later sculptures at Nineveh, the umbrella appears frequently. Austen Henry Layard gives a picture of a bas-relief representing a king in his chariot with an attendant holding an umbrella over his head, dating from c. 710 BC. It has a curtain hanging down behind but is otherwise exactly like those in use today, reserved exclusively for the monarch (who was bald). In Persia, the umbrella is repeatedly found in the carved work of Persepolis. Sir John Malcolm has an article in his 1815 'History of Persia'. In some sculptures, a king appears attended by a servant carrying an umbrella with stretchers and runner. In other sculptures on the rock at Taghe-Bostan, supposed to be not less than twelve centuries old, a deer-hunt is represented with a king on horseback having an umbrella borne over his head by an attendant.

Did You Know?

• The earliest known umbrellas in Ancient Egyptian art date back to the Fifth Dynasty, around 2450 BC.
• The oldest extant example of an umbrella appears around 2310 BC in a victory stele of Sargon of Akkad.
• In Britain, umbrellas were sometimes called 'gamps' after Mrs. Gamp in Charles Dickens' novel Martin Chuzzlewit.
• The word umbrella evolved from the Latin umbra, meaning 'shadow' or 'shade from light'.
• Beehler Umbrella Factory, established in 1828, was the first umbrella manufacturing company in the United States.