ALWAYS A JEST

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 151, 24 December 1930, Page 3

ALWAYS A JEST

UMBRELLA'S STORY"

TRIALS OF EARLY PIONEERS!

LOEDLY SUNSHADE

The majority of people know, per* haps, that the umbrella is a compara* tively modern invention, and that th<* sunshade is almost as old as history. To-day, ia Occidental countries at least, the umbrella is considered a necessity, and the sunshade a luxury, and one might surmise that a necessity would take precedence over a luxury in the thought of inventors. However, in. Oriental countries the sunshade was considered necessary as a protection against the torrid rays of the sun, say 3 the "Christian Science Monitor." It is on record that sunshades were in existence in China many centuries B.C. They were looked upon as sym« bolie of rank, power, and dignity—• double or triple decked shades for an. officer, a fourfold shade the privilege of the Emperor only. One account ofi the procession of the Emperor to his Grand Pagoda describes 200 gold and bedragoned fans and twenty-four magnificent parasols. China and Japan still hold the parasol as a symbol of rank and authority. In 1897, when the German Ambassador visited Wuchang, a red silk' parasol was presented to him as a sign, of authority. In 1898, when Prince Henry of Prussia visited the. Emperor of China, he was received under a red silk sunshade. The Mikado of Japan, formerly never appeared in public without his parasol bearer. The sunshade is now used extensively in both China, and Japan, and Chinese and Japanese sunshades are popular even in the Occident. BIOH GIFTS. Niinrod's palace at Nineveh (SSoS6O 8.C.) shows the Assyrian ruler in' his war chariot, and behind him a slave holding a sunshade over the ruler. Pictures of ancient Egypt and Thebes show parasols. In Persia the parasol is shown in the carved work of Persepolis. In India, the parasol has an ancient record. Kalidasa, the sixth century Indian poet, mentions the parasol in his play "Shakuntala." In 1877, when the then Prince of Wales toured India, he acquired a collection of parasols, gifts of Indian, princes. Some were covered "with feathers, some were embroidered. The Begum of Oudh presented one of blue silk, stitched in gold thread, and covered with real pearls—most costly! The King of Burma called himself, among other titles, "Lord of the Great Parasol." . " . The sunshade was common in ancient GTeece and Borne. Aristophanes mentions it, so do Pliny, Ovid, Juvenal, Pausanius, and Plutarch. The latter speaks of it in connection ■with' Xerxes and Cleopatra. It is shown on old Etruscan vases, on metal mirrors. In fact, in Greece, it was considered indispensable to a lady of fashion. It was also used in feasts of Dionysius and Athena. It gradually worked its way east and into continental Europe in the Middle Ages, and was used in church rituals, and also carried by women. In one of the museums in Prance a remnant of a parasol is shown which is said to have belonged to Diana of Poitiers. In 1697, it is said that Louis XIII. walked in Ins garden attended by a page who carried a parasoL RIDICULED. Coryat, in his "Crudities," pays his respects to the European use of the parasol thus: — '' And many of them do carry other, fine things of a far greater price, that' will cost at least a ducket, which they commonly call in the Italian tongue urutvrellas, that is, things •which minister shadow unto them for a shelter against the scorching heat of the sun. T-f'ese are made of leather, something answerable to the form of a little '«anopy, and hooked in the inside with divers little wooden hoops that extend the umbrella in a pretty large compass. They are used especially by horsemen, who carry them in their hands wiea they ride, fastening the end of the handle upon one of their thighs, and they impart so large a shadow unto them that it keepeth the heat of the sun. from the upper parts of their bodies." But if the history of the sunshade* or parasol is one of dignity and more or less solemnity, not so the umbrella. Its development is attended by considerable ridicule and hilarity. The origin of the umbrella, that is, the usa of a covering to protect one from rain, is somewhat obscure. It is said that in. 1710 Marius of Paris invented an umbrella with jointed stock, that could be folded, put in a case, and carried in. the pocket. But it was not satisfactory, and faded into obscurity. In the eighteenth century the umbrella became known and used all over Europe—Germany, France, Italy, Holland —and was sold on the streets of Paris by hawkers for from 15 to 22 francs. NOT POPULAR. England did not take kindly to the umbrella. In 1710, Dean Swift mentions seeing one made of oilcloth, and used by ladies only. A young man. attempted to carry one, but was ridiculed in. the Press. Robinson Cruso» and Ms umbrella did much to popular" ise the covering, and it was often called the "Eobinson." Jonas Hathaway; (1786) is said to be the first man in. England to carry an umbrella, and ha carried it courageously for 30 years i^ spite of jeers and ridicule, and th# "crass obscurantism" with which h» is said to have been met by the ~pn}r lie. The first man in Scotland to own a^l umbrella, lent it one stormy day to 4 friend. After awhile the friend cam* rushing back excitedly, stating that ni door in his house would take in th« open umbrella, not even, his barn! Th« umbrellas manufactured in 1791 wero very heavy, weighing 101b. Later, steel spokes were used and this reduced the , weight. The first umbrella to appear in the United States was purchased in 1772 by, a Baltimore shop from a ship from India. Its experience was unique, When the timorous proprietor ventured forth with his prize, women were frigh. tencd, horses ran away, children stoucfl the man, and the watch was called out. However, when Philadelphia heard of the innovation, it adopted it enthusiastically, and Now York soon followed suit. And now the umbrella is considered a necessity, and the parasol a Juxuvy, at least in Occidental countries. Verily, history repeats itself, and the hiatoTjr of tha umbrella parallels that of the automobile, the aeroplane, and numerous other seemingly startling innovations.