The British Brolly
It is well known that the Chinese invented the first umbrella and they used painted and lacquered paper umbrellas for centuries before the umbrella was brought to England where it has been dubbed the brolly. A Persian traveler and writer named Jonas Hanway (1712-86) visited Britain and helped make the use of umbrellas popular among English gentlemen who were looking for a way to protect themselves from the vile British weather. In fact, the first nickname for a British umbrella was “Hanway.”
The first umbrella shop opened in 1830 and was called “James Smith and Sons.” The shop opened in 1830 and is still in existence today at 53 New Oxford Street in London England. Back then the Hanways were made of wood or whalebone and covered with oiled canvas or alpaca. The curved handles were made out hard woods like ebony or mahogany.
This famous umbrella shop has retained it’s Victorian façade and also sells umbrellas that double as canes or that have concealed weapons inside. Many of the umbrellas sold in the shop are retro and made from designs that are over a hundred years ago. Umbrellas with animal heads are particularly prized and you can get them with wooden heads carved in the shape of ducks, owls, cats, falcons and other English wildlife.
Most coveted are the slim rolled umbrellas which are very expensive and a bit of a status symbol. They roll up around the shaft very tightly. Also coveted are umbrellas where the shaft and handle are all made of one piece.
In 1852 Samuel Fox invented the umbrella with the fanning steel ribs. This was the result of needing to recycle the steel stays that wren used in women’s corsets. In fact, after corsets were no longer worn, the stays were used to construct umbrellas for years. These mass-marketed umbrellas are classic in black but will never be the status symbol that the hand-carved single-piece brollys are.
Fit up umbrellas are very British and have a very tall spike coming out of the top of the umbrella when it is fanned open.
The collapsible umbrella was not invented until 1952 this making the cheap black ribbed British umbrella a regular sight in Britain for over a century. Nowadays all of the shops also sell white sun umbrellas as the sun in Britain shines more and there is more of a need for protection from harmful U.V. rays than there is from the rain.