Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
THE UMBRELLA IN AMERICA.
Made Its First Appearance at Balti
more and Excited Ridicule.

From the Baltimore Herald
How many persons know that Baltimore
Is the American home of the umbrella; that
away back in 1772 the first umbrella ever
seen in the United States marched through
Baltimore town with a man under it; that
good old colonial danes ran for their lives
at sight of 1t; that horses hoped fences and
tore Wildly from meeting-h house posts; that
parma1ds IN We good old tavern, with We
good old gfog in their hands, ran to doors
and windows to see the show. while ye star
dipsomaniac shouted with much power
and great vigor'' that he would never touch
another drop; that small boys threw stones
at 1t, and that the town was in an uproar?
Yet such is history. A book in the city
library says it is SO; hence it must be So
In fact there Is not the slightest doubt of
1T, for the night watch (who is called night
watch because he worked in the day. sent
In riot call, and reinforcements were only
prevented turning out because there was
only one night Waterman on the force in
those good but somewhat uncertain days.
1t is most remarkable that Right Hon. F.
4 G.. Latrobe, the ancient, has completely
overlooked the umbrella incident in his
many effusions on the city of Baltimore. 1t
certainly would have varied the verbal
menu if, after coffee and CIGARS" he had
discussed Baltimore as the home Of the
umbrella" rather than the home Of the
oyster, the crab, the tin-can industry, pref
ty girls and, incidentally, Gen. F. c. La
trobe, who, according to his own confess
sion, has been mayor of Baltimore seven
times.
But because Gen. Latrobe and other mu-
nicipal mouthpieces have failed to bring
into the limelight Baltimore and its rela-
ton to the umbrella" it does not alter or
detract from the fact that Baltimore town
sported an umbrella long before any other
city Of the new world. 1t is unfortunate
that the particular umbrella was never
1a6 IN fhn ,iyync oft Y,a off al
that the name of the man who had the
hardihood to march through town accom-
panied by it is lost to posterity. Suffice 1t
to say, if he could be gotten hold of now
he would be done in oil forthwith and hung
with other celebrities in the council cham
bers. But he, with his umbrella, has been
lost, and only the historical fact remains
that he and his umbrella did exist in this
very town.
1t is to be regretted that the umbrella
was not made here. 1t was a foreigner,
though 1t was brought by Baltimorean
on Baltimore ship from India.
Imagine the figure the gentleman must
have cut in the eyes of the populace as he
meandered from the dock with the village
gang at his back and the village dogs at
his heels. There is no record TO snow
whether he was chased out of town on the
quaint old charge of being possessed Of the
devil or was taken gently but firmly to
the ducking pond and dropped H. But
whatever happened to him it is a very good
without encountering a trouble factory OF
some kind.
Yet If he lived it was to laugh. He lived
to see others adopt the imported instru-
ment which at first caused so much appre-
tension He saw the idea expand and
broaden The fame of the Baltimore UNI
brella travelled to Philadelphia, and soon
it was adopted by the Quakers with much
enthusiasm. Next 1t was heard of in New
York, where the Holland Dutch, who had
brought nothing with them from the other
side but the language they spoke, marveled
among themselves. saying, verify this is
good thing to push along"
And thus from town to town the umbrella
craze spread. The bicycle mania of later
years was nothing compared to 1t, and the
"auto'' craze is not worth mentioning in
the same breath. Everybody scrambled
for an umbrella. Babies cried for them.
They became the fashion They became in
separable from the village sages, who could
not think except they walked, and who
could not walk unless they had their UNI
brellas under their arms, or mayhap over
their heads. The umbrella became a badge
of rank and dignity.
And all because away back in 1II2 a lone
man walked through Baltimore town car
rying one, the first umbrella seen In this
part of the world.