A Need for Umbrella Etiquette

“Offensive possibly,” yet very helpful! – “The etiquette of the umbrella seems comparatively unknown to humanity at large. Perhaps there isn't any written etiquette on the subject, and that's the reason that certain persons passing each other raise their umbrellas high above their heads at the same moment, lower them again and then stand and stare foolishly at each other until one or the other has presence of mind to flit by, carrying his reversed like a banner.”

An Offensive Weapon

On every rainy day the umbrella shows of what it is capable in careless hands. Few know how to carry this useful article in a manner conducive to peace. Why is it that the big, tall man who is passing one on the street draws his umbrella down as close to his head as possible and allows one, if she is a tiny little woman, to stand on her toes and stretch her arm to the breaking point in order to pass the dripping article he carries over him?

Why is it, one is also impelled to ask, that a man in a car unhesitatingly rests his umbrella against the knee of the feminine creature next to him, or so poises it that brown drops from its surface fall into the shoe of his neighbor?

The etiquette of the umbrella seems comparatively unknown to humanity at large. Perhaps there isn't any written etiquette on the subject, and that's the reason that certain persons passing each other raise their umbrellas high above their heads at the same moment, lower them again and then stand and stare foolishly at each other until one or the other has presence of mind to flit by, carrying his reversed like a banner.

An umbrella in the hands of the absent-minded is really a dangerous weapon; at least that is what one young woman recently declared; but then she had just had an unhappy experience, for a careless mortal standing beside her under an awning had closed his with so much force that her new rainy-day suit, her gray hat and fluffy white silk collar, were literally besprinkled and would have to be renovated by a cleaner.

Perhaps someday a practical American will open a little school and give lessons in umbrella carrying, opening and shutting. Then we'll feel much safer when the raindrops fall.– South San Francisco Enterprise, February 1901

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Umbrella Etiquette for L.A.

Jonas Hanway, is said to have been the first Englishman to carry an umbrella. First seen as an oddity, it soon became indispensable to fellow Brits. Rarely used in Los Angeles for rain, umbrellas in Southern California are seen more often being used for sun protection.

It is not to be expected that people living in a climate that affords more than 300 sunshiny days in the 365 of the year will be thoroughly posted in umbrella etiquette. A cursory glance about the streets of Los Angeles during the inclemency of the past few days is sufficiently convincing that there is a lack of culture in our umbrella manners. 

For instance, in sections of the country where the ratio of rainy and sunny days is reversed, and the art of umbrella manipulation is at its highest development, it is not considered in good form, when a gentleman and lady are sharing the same silken canopy for the gentleman to monopolize three-fourths of the area of dryness while the gentle moisture trickles over the unprotected shoulders of his fair companion. Also, in passing down a crowded street upon a rainy day, the best authorities agree that the umbrella is not intended for use as a plow, to be lowered before one while he madly surges through the populace. It is true that this method effectively clears the path but there is always danger of injuring the umbrella. 

In passing under an awning it is well to drop the umbrella to an altitude which will prevent a collision with said awning. The lowering of the article is not construed on the line of lowering one's colors, even if it be a colored umbrella, and the additional ease and grace with which one is enabled thus to pass under the awning is a sufficient recompense for any apparent loss of dignity which may attend the lowering process in passing between two pedestrians whom you may chance to meet. If it is found necessary to tilt the umbrella to one side or the other, it is best to tip the rain protector in the direction of the lesser of the two individuals. This is a graceful acknowledgment of the superior muscular powers of the larger man, and makes the apologies for dumping a stream of cold water down the neck of the small man much more liable to be accepted. 

Between showers, the closed instrument may be carried under the arm, the ferrule protruding about three feat before you us a sort of advance guard to prod those who persist in crossing your orbit, or it may protrude in like manner behind us as protection against those who might otherwise approach too closely in that quarter. Again, it may be swung airily to and fro in a nonchalant manner to convey the impression that the owner is care-free and well satisfied with life; still none of these methods are considered in best form in cultured centers. Careful observation will suggest many little improvements in methods now in vogue, and the opportunities for practice are now ample. – Los Angeles Herald,1901

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Global Umbrella Etiquette of Old

“It is a sign of low-breeding to fidget with the hat, cane or parasol during a call. They are introduced merely as signs that the caller is in walking dress, and are not intended, the hat to be whirled round the top of the cane, the cane to be employed in tracing out the pattern of the carpet, or the parasol to be tapped on the teeth, or worse still, sucked.”

Umbrella Etiquette Unique to China, Japan, Turkey, India and the U.S.

In China, ladies were attended by servants who held umbrellas over their heads. The Chinese and Japanese introduced both the umbrella and parasol into their decorative work and athletic sports. And although it may have been raining, no Japanese person was allowed to put up an umbrella while her Majesty was passing by.

In India, the umbrella was the emblem of royalty, the sign of a Rajah. So natives generally folded their umbrellas before a Rajah, and not before anybody else, however great, it was not a part of the dress, but a protection from the rain or sun, a necessary appendage, just like the watch and chain. A coolie was not bound to fold his umbrella when a brigadier general rode past. But a menial generally closed down the umbrella upon seeing his master, whom he considered his “King.” But no Indian, however humble, ought to have folded up the umbrella, even before a magistrate, because he was neither the master of the humble passer-by, nor his superior officer, nor was he bound to salaam him. But if he did, no harm. In a word, natives generally folded the umbrella before a master or a superior officer, and not any other citizen, however great and this was no insult.

In western Turkey, it was necessary to close an umbrella on meeting people of high rank, and a European traveler who was passing one of the Palaces of the Sultan was nearly run through by the guard before he comprehended that he must put down the open umbrella he carried. Every one passing the actual residence of the Sultan lowered his umbrella as a salutation to “the brother of the sun and the moon.” 

And according to Frost’s By-Laws of 1869, an American lady, “When calling, keeps her parasol in her hand, and is not required to remove her glove. It is a sign of low-breeding to fidget with the hat, cane or parasol during a call. They are introduced merely as signs that the caller is in walking dress, and are not intended, the hat to be whirled round the top of the cane, the cane to be employed in tracing out the pattern of the carpet, or the parasol to be tapped on the teeth, or worse still, sucked. No lady will be guilty of the vulgarity of sucking the head of her parasol in the street. To eat anything, even confectionery, in the street, is a sign of low breeding.”

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia