St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-10-30
Umbrellas.


uated III Arch street, and one of them
81 very recent addition to the trade.
! The great umbrella manufacturing cen
tres of the country are New York and
Philadelphia, both of these cities pro-
ducing not only the coverings, springs
and o'hcr parts of the umbrella, hut
the sticks or handles. No umbrella
| handles are produced in the vicinity of
Boston, and all that are used come
from the above named cities. The
handles are made of many varieties of
wood, and are trimmed with rubber,
ivory, horn and celluloid, or left plain.
The woods from which the handles are
made include the ordinary rock maple,
the plmento, cherry and bamboo. also
the partridge wood, as the manuiactur-
ers call II certain kind of reed.
The sticks can he covered and per
feet umbrella made in about six min
utes. If very good piece Of work is
intended rs on the higher grade of UNI
breilas each one is finished separately;
but on the cheaper umbrellas num-
Der are finished in one particular part,
before another process is begun.
! The stick is first fitted with Il "tip-
cup" (the little cup which holds the
ribs of the umbrella when it is closed),
that article being slipped on to the
stick almost up to the handle, where IL
piece of paper is wound around, and
over this the cup pushed to make it
tight. 1t is then tackled on the stick,
and the stick being grooved for the
''thumb springs" by n circular saw. the
thumb springs are inserted. Those
unacquainted with the manufacturers
term will perhaps recognize in the
thumb springs the little catches which
hold the umbrellas open or shut.
The finish is the feruling of the tip
of the stick, and the placing of cir
cular cap at the place where the ribs
JOIN near the top. to hold the cloth Sc
curcly, give ii better appearance, and
keep the rain from leaking i'll at that
otherwise poorly protected point.
The cloths most commonly used are
American and English cotton, wooden
| goods and silk. The difference in
price of umbrellas is caused by the
cheapness of the cloth, the cheapness
of the handle, and the rapidity with
which they are produced. The differ
ence in weight of umbrellas is caused by
the lightness of the stick, which, when
lightness is essential, is usually made of
bamboo and the lightness of the ribs.
The ribs that are used in light um
brellas and sunshades are called ''par-
agOn ribs" the difference between
them and the ordinary style being that
the latter are round and solid and the
former grOoved, and though very
strong contain less substance, and con-
sequently are less heavy. The variety
of handles which may be seen stacked
away on poles is surprising. One of
the most attractive woods is the pi-
mentO, which cOlored and grained or
left in it's natural creamy color is very
fascinating.
After this had been done, the long
ferule which is slipped up when the
umbrella is to he opened is next placed
on, and the lower steel ribs of the
frame which support the cloth cover
ing when completed is attached. After
this round ferule with the sides
turned up so as to form a circular
groove, with notched edge is slipped
on to the stick and to this the ribs are
attached, Il wire being run through the
loops in the attaching part of the ribs
and then placed in the groove and
twisted until tight when the turned up
edge prevents slipping.
The framework of the umbrella is
now completed and the stick ready for
the covering is sent down to the cut
ting rooms. The cloth for an umbrella
is all cut at once, each portion of the
cover between the ribs being separ-
ate piece. A number of folds are taken
in the cloth before it is cut and then
an acute-angled triangular piece of
board is laid upon it and Il knife is
passed along the edge, cutting the
cloth into correspondingly triangular
pieces, and these are scwed tegetlIer
with the ordinary sewing machines.
After having a circular piece of cloth
generally Ornamented with il name,
such as ''very SUPERIOR" or chest quail
ty" slipped into the stick, so that by
looking upwards when the umbrella is
open the name may be seen at the top,
the cloth is attached to the wires,
ironed out smooth and then "tinished."