The Umbrella

I was watching "The Amazing Spider-Man" the other day and there was a scene with it raining and people walking with dozens and dozens of black umbrellas. That got me thinking, why has the umbrella not changed at all in so long?

I mean like the one pictured above, they pretty much look like they did since they were invented, right? True!

Umbrellas and parasols are primarily hand-held portable devices sized for personal use. The largest hand-portable umbrellas are golf umbrellas. Umbrellas can be divided into two categories: fully collapsible umbrellas, in which the metal pole supporting the canopy retracts, making the umbrella small enough to fit in a handbag, and non-collapsible umbrellas, in which the support pole cannot retract and only the canopy can be collapsed. Another distinction can be made between manually operated umbrellas and spring-loaded automatic umbrellas, which spring open at the press of a button.

Hand-held umbrellas have a type of handle which can be made from wood, a plastic cylinder or a bent "crook" handle (like the handle of a cane). Umbrellas are available in a range of price and quality points, ranging from inexpensive, modest quality models sold at discount stores to expensive, finely made, designer-labeled models. Larger parasols capable of blocking the sun for several people are often used as fixed or semi-fixed devices, used with patio tables or other outdoor furniture, or as points of shade on a sunny beach. 

 

National Umbrella Day is held on 10 February each year around the world. 

The word "umbrella" evolved from the Latin umbella (an umbel is a flat-topped rounded flower) or umbra, meaning shaded or shadow. The Oxford English Dictionary records this as happening in the 17th century, with the first recorded usage in 1610.

So now you know!