Umbrellas For a Rainy Day

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It may seem odd that facts about umbrellas can be interesting because I believe that many people don’t think twice about umbrellas. It is good to have an umbrella when it rains, but when the sun shines, we tend to forget about it. I am writing about umbrellas because the spring rains have arrived. The first man who publicly carried an umbrella was an Englishman named Jonas Hanway. He was an English traveler and philanthropist. Afterward most Englishmen carried umbrellas, and it soon spread around the world. The umbrellas that we use today have a resemblance in design to the kind of umbrellas that were once used in ancient Rome and Greece. A significant part of modern fashion is represented by the umbrella. It just wouldn’t seem the same if we ordered an exotic cocktail and we didn’t see a little paper umbrella sticking out of the glass. Umbrellas are coated with Teflon, which makes them waterproof and helps to keep us dry. Most umbrellas are made in China. The city of Shangyu, China, has over a thousand umbrella factories. An umbrella can be used offensively as a weapon, or its shaft can effectively hide a secret blade. Modern security agencies are known to create umbrellas for their secret purposes. I do believe that James Bond 007 has carried an umbrella or two which he used as a weapon. Many religious ceremonies and processions include umbrellas and parasols. During the first thousand years of use, parasols were viewed as a symbol of wealth and power. Many civilizations were known to practice the tradition of showcasing the exotic and complex made parasols of their rulers. When I lived in New York City, I loved the guys selling $1 umbrellas on the streets whenever it rained because I was always forgetting my umbrella on the subway. This way I never had to take a favorite umbrella to the city just to lose it and if it began to rain, I just bought another umbrella.