ON UMBRELLAS,

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20710, 7 May 1929, Page 18

ON UMBRELLAS,

The umbrella, since its beginnings, has ever been, the staunch protector and friend of all who dwell under British, skies; yet it is a curious fact , in the history of a “ parapluie,” J hat it really started out as a sunshade, and was first opened to protect its •' owner from the too-ardent rays of ‘ the Eastern suns. The exuberant imagination of 'the East, however, invested the umbrella with more beautiful suggestion than that of mere protection. To the dwellers in the land of palms, the umbrella' became part and parcel of something gorgeous and imposing. His-, tory records that it was considered one of the insignia of Royalty in the East, and on the sculptured remains of ancient Nineveh and Egypt it takes its place, i “ bas-relief,” in the pictured royal processions. Certain princes of India had a title meaning “ Lords of the Umbrella.” When our “ Only General ” —then Sir Garnet—Wolseley subdued Sling Coffee, of Ashantec, he brought home and, presented to Queen Victoria the ex-king’s state umbrella, thus intimating, in a delicate way, that the -job had been thoroughly and finally accomplished. Among the Greeks and Romans, ladies of old times carried the umbrella, but men, if they would show themselves brave, must not. When the umbrella came to our clinic, our colder Northern temperament deprived it of all suggestion, save that of a protector from rain. It became simply i a utilitarian affair, as far from thoughts 1 of poetry or art as—a soup spoon. Its arrival in Britain was considered of importance enough for it to be recorded that Jonas Hanway was .its first habitual wearer. This distinction is prooably Jonas’s only title to fame. In its early form, the “ parapluie ” was about as far behind the one of modern days as the Comet was behind the smart paddle steamers that piy the Clyde today. , The framework was substantial, consisting of a stout “ stick ” and “ ribs ” of cither whalebone or nine. Over this was strctche. heavy oiled cloth, making the early “brolly” a serious affair to handle. One can imagine the difficulty its heavy jointed ribs would present in a sudden downpour—the lockjaw that might seize its hinges, the uncertainty whether the whole “ contraption ” might not suddenly collapse, cutting off Jonas or his contemporaries from returning the courteous salutation to one friend, or shutting i.nii ..vay from an earnest convc v ation witli another. One can also dearly icturc the early umbrella firmly refusing to close at the cud of a Shower, and leaving Jon as to walk foolishly homeward (or business-ward) under the extended shadow of his umbrella. Perhaps one of the catchwords of that time was not “ Come out of the hat,” but “Como out of the umbrella.” It seem very possible. But to alter a French saying somewliat, “ Autre temps antres paraplnies.’' Dainty, delicate, yet sturdy enough to protect British hats from British showers, the umbrella has risen Phoonixliko from the ashes of the oilclothed, whalcboned affair of our ancestors’times. . . . Moreover, in these tinted pretty Hungs built for our women, is it just possible that the umbrella is once more taking on suggestions of the poetry and art of the East? Red, blue, golden, flaming out suddenly against a darkened sky on darkened streets, the coloured umbrella has achieved a subtle significance of mental uplift, which raised it out of the merely material aspect alone belonging to Jonas’s umbrella. Ves, the “ parapluie ” in such guise, reminds one not so much' of rain, as that there still shines a sun behind the clouds —and that is a pretty big thing for an umbrella to dpt