
Umbrellas were no less a rarity in colonial America. But other English men soon followed his lead, and they started calling rain umbrellas "Hanways." (6) Still, as late as 1770, a man carrying an umbrella was something of a rarity. (5) In about 1750, Jonas Hanway, who was in delicate health, started to use a rain umbrella to protect his face and wig, and as a result, he was thought to be highly idiosyncratic. (4) At first, they were carried only by women, the orthodox view being that women-and not menrequired this type of protection. In England, the practice of using umbrellas as rain protection began in the 1700 s. They waterproofed the paper creations with wax and lacquer. The Chinese were probably the first to use umbrellas as protection against rain. (3) In the 1800 s, the King of Burma included among his titles the singular "He Who Reigns Over the Umbrella-wearers. Stone carvings show kings and high officials parading about under umbrellas held by dutiful servants. These parasols were once associated with royalty. In fact, the word umbrella is taken from the Latin umbra, meaning "shade." Today, we generally call this type of umbrella a parasol. (2) Pictures and artifacts show that umbrellas were prevalent in hot climates, where people needed protection from the sun. (1) Who could think of anything more prosaic than an umbrella? Despite the current commonness of this everyday item, the umbrella was once considered an exotic object.Ībout 4,000 years ago, umbrellas were used by the ancient Egyptians and the Assyrians.
