| Many are familiar with the image of an Anglo-Saxon | | | | was considered to be a screen commonly used by |
| gentleman, who walks in the rain while protected by an | | | | women to keep off rain or sun. But it took some years |
| umbrella held by his servant over his head. Numerous | | | | before the English noble society was seen holding this |
| representations, like the famous drawing of Thomas | | | | bizarre by highly effective device. While in the mid |
| Wright "Domestic Manners of the English," portray the | | | | eighteenth century France was already a proponent |
| image of England's early seventieth century gentlemen. | | | | of its extremely positive results, England had yet to be |
| The famous Sherlock Holmes, who made his first | | | | convinced of the umbrella's suitability and general use. It |
| public appearance in 1887, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's | | | | took England by surprise when the founder of the |
| fictional detective character, was depicted in various | | | | Magdalen Hospital, Jonas Hanway, became the |
| media as wearing a deerstalker hat and cloak, | | | | pioneer who begun carrying an umbrella in public |
| smoking a pipe and clutching a magnifying glass. His | | | | display around 1750 and continued doing so for over |
| comrade and friend Dr. John H. Watson who following | | | | thirty years, up until his death. |
| and helped him during his investigating endeavors, was | | | | Since those days, the umbrella improved its design and |
| depicted in film holding a long and probably heavy | | | | the various transformations in its form and material |
| umbrella which Holmes sometimes also used by | | | | costs, led it to become a necessity; especially when it |
| leaning on while thinking over the facts of a case. | | | | rains. Found in corner shops and at street sellers, the |
| Originated from China, the use of the parasol, or later | | | | umbrella's modern light design and compact collapsible |
| referred to as the umbrella, was adopted by French | | | | size, due to a telescoping steel trunk, increased its |
| and English aristocracy before becoming popular to | | | | production and usage numbers. New materials, like |
| the masses during the next two centuries. But apart | | | | cotton, plastic film and nylon replaced the original heavy |
| from it being adopted by nobles and peasants alike, | | | | oiled silk and made it a fun and trendy gadget for |
| the umbrella had to overcome the problem of being | | | | people to carry around, as it easily fits in a woman's |
| considered a particularly feminine gadget. According to | | | | purse or under a man's arm. |
| an early eighteenth century dictionary, the umbrella | | | | |