The parasol, along with its wet counterpart the umbrella, does not have a credited inventor. This invention rather evolved across the globe as a natural solution to keeping off the heat in damp climates.
In ancient Egypt, the parasol was employed to provide protection from the sun, and as a ceremonial accessory. In ancient Greece, parasols were high fashion and used by priestesses in spiritual rites. Their use was also commonplace in Rome.
Ancient China was the first to invent a collapsible parasol. Evidence of these have been found in the 3rd and 6th centuries BCE, and in 21 CE, Wang Mang, an official in the Han dynasty, designed an umbrella for a ceremonial carriage that could fold down when not required.
It is most likely that China’s usage of the parasol electrified England’s take-up of the hand held parasol in the 18th century, and its love for the garden parasol thereafter.
Parasol use – the Victorian nadir
The approval for parasols grew in England, and by the 1860s, when large bonnets and hats had gone out of favor, a parasol was thought to be an essential part of a lady’s wardrobe – to ward away the sun’s damaging rays on smooth, non-working-class, pale skin.
Parasols became status symbols to affirm a ladies position and standing and, when riding in a convertible carriage, they were conspicuously exposed. Intriguingly , however, a ‘lady’ did not carry an umbrella. To do so would admit publicly that she could not afford to possess or hire a carriage for transport when it was raining.
Because of their elegance and cost, parasols turned into a favored present for a gentleman to give his sweetheart. It would be improper for a person to give a parasol to a woman for whom his intentions weren’t heavy, and in return, it would’ve been unfit for her to accept unless she was of like mind.
Like the fan and the lacy hankie, the parasol was both a practical object and an essential help to the subtle art of flirtation. In the hands of a skilled practitioner, it could mysteriously shade a lady’s expression, disguise the direction of her peek from a chaperone, and even camouflage her imperfections.
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