That 'umbrella' in lifestyle today!

Mahbubur Rahman Suman With the change of time, there have been many changes in the lifestyle. For example, today we have come from telephone to mobile phone. But no change came in the nineteenth century to deal with heavy hail or rain. You have to use the old one
একটি যন্ত্র ‘ছাতা’।

But the interesting fact is that the material called umbrella, which has become a friend of people even in the age of modern science and technology, was born about a thousand and four years ago. However, although the existence of the umbrella is known in ancient times, it is not known exactly who invented it and how. Rather, some history of umbrellas can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century.

বিশ্বের প্রথম ছাতার দোকান ‘জেমস স্মিত অ্যান্ড সন্স’ চালু হয় ১৮৩০ সালে। যদিও সে সময়ে মূলত সূর্যের প্রখরতা থেকে বাঁচতেই ছাতার প্রচলনছিল বেশি। আর বৃষ্টি থেকে বাঁচতে প্রথম ছাতা ব্যবহারের দাবিদার হিসেবে ধরা হয় চীনাদের। ছাতা আবিষ্কারের কাহিনী অনেকটা সেকেলে হলেও অষ্টাদশ শতক পর্যন্ত ছাতার আকৃতি ছিল অনেক বড় এবং ওজনও ছিল বেশি।

In 1852, Samuel Foxsteel made an umbrella for Queen Victoria from thin rods. Although many days before this event, in 1715, a Persian named Marius claimed the credit for the invention of the pocket umbrella. Later in the 19th century, umbrellas became more versatile and portable. In 1852, a Frenchman named Gage invented the method of opening an umbrella with the help of automatic Swiss.

In 1920, a man named Hans Haupt from Berlin, Germany brought a novel change in umbrella making. He makes small size easily pocketable umbrellas. In 1936, this umbrella named Lord and Lady became very popular in and around Germany.

Apart from this, the polyester cloth umbrellas that came into the market in 1960 were also able to win the hearts of users. Another interesting aspect about umbrellas is that for a long time after the invention of umbrellas, their color was mainly black, which is still widely used today. However, in the last thirty years, just as the color and appearance of the umbrella has changed, its size, shape and materials have also changed. Despite the change in the color and material of the umbrella, even today, the ancient umbrella of four thousand years is being used in the lifestyle by the civilized people of the modern world.