Umbrella
Protection from the rain that went from odd habit to matter of course on London’s streets in the 18th century.
Parasols against the sun had long existed, but carrying an umbrella against the rain was thought unmanly in England. Around 1750 the traveller Jonas Hanway began carrying one in London and is said to have been laughed at.
By the end of the century the umbrella was common. In 1852 Samuel Fox developed a lighter steel frame, which made umbrellas cheaper and more durable.
Materials: Oiled silk or cotton, whalebone or cane, wood; later steel
Manufacture: Ribs of whalebone or cane were covered with fabric and fixed to a wooden stick; steel ribs came in the 1850s.
Whalebone or cane ribs on older umbrellas, steel on later ones.
Heavy wooden sticks with handles of bone, horn or silver.
The maker’s name on the ring or handle.