What do you want your promotional umbrella to do?
Looking for a corporate silk parasol to shade your delicate features from sun? Or more of a manly affair to protect you from the bitter elements…
Or maybe your part of the Byzantine church, and need an umbrella for religious purposes? Or a keen photographer and need one for portraits? Or for something more sinister, like a Bulgarian umbrella that shoots poison…
Or perhaps you innocently want to decorate your Pina Colada?
To clarify a point and make a distinction…
The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect one from the sun, while an umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect one from the rain. The word umbrella is from the Latin word ‘umbra’, which in turn derives from the Ancient Greek ‘ómbros’. Its meaning is shade or shadow. The word parasol came into being from the word ‘para’ meaning stop or shield, and ‘sol’ meaning sun.
The first basic umbrellas were invented over four thousand years ago, with evidence of them being used through the ancient dynasties of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome and China. It is more likely that these ancient parasols where designed to shade the ancient aristocracies from the sun, rather than decorate their Del boy cocktails.
It was considered until relatively recently to be an accessory suitable only for women. That was until a Persian traveller and writer, by the name of Jonas Hanway (1712-86), carried and used an umbrella publicly in England for thirty years. Thanks mainly to him; the umbrella became popular among gentlemen too, with them often referring to umbrellas as a “Hanway.”
Hilariously, a footman by the name of John Macdonald noted in his memoirs that on using his umbrella, someone had shouted at him ‘Frenchman, why don’t you get a coach?’
Four thousand years later the first umbrella shop arrived on 53 New Oxford St London in 1830, and went by the name of “James Smith and Sons”, and is still open for business today. These umbrellas were considered quite a luxury, being made from either wood or whalebone and covered with alpaca or oiled canvas, with the curved handles made from harder woods like ebony.
It was in 1852, when Samuel Fox invented the steel ribbed kind, which are recognisable today. The industrious chap set up the ‘English Steels Company,’ to manufacture these umbrellas to a wider market. Interestingly the common umbrella was the inspiration behind the creation of the parachute.
By the Victorian era, parasols became very popular to keep the sun at bay, as pale skin was all the rage. They were made from silk and fine cottons, with extra trimmings such as fringing, tassels and lace.
It is hotly disputed as to who invented the first collapsible or telescopic umbrella. In 1920s Hans Haupt in Berlin made a pocket umbrella. While in 1930s America, a collapsible umbrella was produced called the ‘Growey’’. Both sides claim to have invented the first collapsible umbrella.
Stronger nylon canopies came into being in the 1950s, which made the manufacturing of different colours popular, while clear canopies being particularly fashionable in the 1960s. These days corporate umbrellas tend to be made from very light weight and Teflon coated fabrics, but are essentially the same design that Samuel Fox made in 1852.
