The umbrella used by the British royal family, Prince Charles and Colin Firth are its loyal fans

The age of a gentleman holding an umbrella and everyone shouting

wearing a bowler hat, holding a slender black umbrella, wearing a well-tailored suit...this It is most people's inherent impression of British gentlemen. Don’t look at what Britain today is called the "Umbrella Kingdom." In fact, more than 300 years ago, British gentlemen did not wear umbrellas. At that time, umbrellas were tools used by women to shade the sun. If a man held an umbrella in public, he would be considered a sissy Was ridiculed.

The British did not have the concept of umbrella in their early years. The etymology of umbrella in English is the Latin umbrella, and the meaning of shadow

Umbrella is quite criticized. Apart from the distinction between men and women, there are also religious ones. Religious believers believe that “rains in the sky are to make people get wet”, and holding an umbrella is “defying the will of God”. Therefore, in Britain at the time, few people held umbrellas on rainy days, and the noble gentlemen and ladies went out in carriages. However, in 1743, an Englishman named Jonas Hanway went to France to do business. He found that French people were walking in the rain with umbrellas. It was very convenient to collect the umbrellas after the rain stopped. So Hanwei followed suit and walked the streets in the rain with an umbrella after returning home.

In the 18th century, the streets of Paris in the rain

As the first man in London to hold an umbrella on a rainy day, the brave Hanwei attracted a lot of ridicule. When Hanwei went out with an umbrella, people threw eggs at him, and even the coachmen splashed him in mud to show their attitude. But Hanwei remained unmoved and insisted on holding an umbrella on rainy days. According to newspaper records at the time, Hanwei was mocked by locals for 30 years.

Jonas Hanway strolling in the rain with an umbrella

However, the convenience of umbrellas is visible to everyone. Soon after Hanway broke the taboo of men using umbrellas, England "Hanwei" with umbrellas appeared in various cities and towns. Even at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon, bought an umbrella made of waxed canvas and used it on rainy days. Subsequently, umbrellas were also used among the British royal family. So far, umbrellas have finally become popular amidst opposition.

Rolls Royce in Umbrellas

With the prevalence of umbrellas, since the 18th century, there have been many umbrella manufacturers in the UK, including the oldest company James Smith & Son, as well as the invention Fox Umbrellas, a steel umbrella umbrella company, is the most successful company founded in 1836 by Thomas Brigg & Sons.

Thomas Brigg&Sons is located in the United Kingdom.

There are many family businesses called XXX & son in the United Kingdom. It seems that they pay much attention to generations. Thomas Brigg&Sons means Thomas Brig and his children. Thomas Brig’s father was a craftsman. He opened a shop on Charing Street in London as early as 1809, selling feather hats to the army.

Feather decoration on the British Royal Army hat

Given that the umbrella market was booming at the time, Thomas Brig went to France to learn the craftsmanship of umbrellas with his father’s funding, and in 1828 A branch was opened at 23 St. James Street, London, specializing in the production and sale of Brigg umbrellas. Umbrellas produced by major British umbrella companies at that time were mostly made of whale bones or rattan ribs, and then installed on a thick wooden stick and covered with heavy cotton fabric. In order to waterproof, the cloth was often coated with oil and wax, so Unusually heavy, the weight of a man's umbrella can even reach 4 pounds (1.8 kg).

Since the umbrellas were very heavy at the time, gentlemen would take care of the ladies who did not bring an umbrella or were unable to carry an umbrella

Thomas Brig took the lead in the umbrella Triple braidedReal silk fabrics, in wet weather, this kind of silk will swell slightly to make the surface of the umbrella waterproof, so the weight of the umbrella is a lot lighter, of course, the cost also goes up. Many umbrella companies at that time didn't even mention using silk fabrics on the umbrella surface. They also cut corners when making umbrella shafts and used cheap wood to save costs. Everyone’s idea is simple: umbrellas are ordinary daily necessities, what use is it to make them so exquisite?

Nowadays, the nylon component

is added to the umbrella surface of the Brigg umbrella. But Thomas Brig doesn't think so. He has the stubbornness of the British and the exquisiteness of the French. In his opinion, although umbrella is just an ordinary commodity, it can also become an art. Therefore, Thomas Brig insists on making top-quality umbrellas, not only using silk fabrics on the surface of the umbrella, but also using high-quality woods such as oak, ebony, and walnut for the handle and shaft. And in the production, adhere to the most complicated Solid straight umbrella manufacturing process, that is, from the umbrella handle to the umbrella body to the umbrella tip, a whole piece of wood runs through it, making the umbrella stronger and can also be used as a cane.

Solid, as the name suggests, is a one-piece umbrella body, umbrella handle and umbrella tip made of a single continuous piece of wood

However, in the United Kingdom at that time, not many people used Brie Grid brand umbrella. On the one hand, because of insisting on pure hand-made high-quality production, the production cycle of cloth Brigg umbrellas is too long, and mass production is impossible. On the other hand, the high price under the high cost also makes consumers who are used to buying cheap umbrellas sneered. So Thomas Brig was poor in his later years and his store almost closed. However, as he died, he still told his child Edward Brig to insist on making an umbrella.

The gentleman carrying a Brigg umbrella

Edward Brig did not violate his father's death, insisted on making the untimely Brigg umbrella, and gradually became the name of the family. In 1893, Brigg received the Royal Umbrella Commission from Queen Victoria and became the first umbrella manufacturer to receive this honor, and his reputation gradually spread throughout the UK.

From this time on, people are fed up with cheap and inferior umbrellas and think that umbrellas are not only daily necessities, but also a stylish decoration. Brigg has become the benchmark of the British umbrella industry, and many umbrella companies have learned from Brigg and started to produce high-quality umbrellas. In other words, Brigg has contributed to the emergence of so many top umbrella brands in the UK today.

Tasteful gentlemen naturally have to use quality umbrellas

In 1919, the well-known Thomas Brigg & Sons company even acquired the French luxury umbrella manufacturer Bétaille, and opened it in Paris The branch. Later, British Prime Minister Chamberlain often carried a Brigg umbrella with him when he visited. Life magazine called this umbrella a "soothing umbrella" for regulating peace. Brigg began to gain reputation in the world and gained many European customers.

British Prime Minister Chamberlain and his Brigg umbrella

However, the good times did not last long. After the outbreak of World War II, the Nazis occupied the store of Thomas Brigg & Sons in France, the third generation descendant of the Bourg family Bertie Brig returned to London and merged with the leather goods company Swaine & Adeney, which was also in crisis, to form Swaine Adeney Brigg in 1943. Even during the war with tight supplies, Bertie Brig did not reduce the quality of Brigg's umbrella, which earned him the title of "Rolls Royce among Umbrellas".

From standard gentleman to classic screen

Today, Swaine Adeney Brigg is still producing high-quality Brigg umbrellas. Although most of the umbrellas nowadays are folding umbrellas, which are more portable and easy to store, and also have colorful and fashionable patterns, but Brigg rainThe umbrella still insists on hand-made all-wood umbrella body, does not use automatic opening and closing technology, does not have fancy decorations, and is too simple and low-key.

In this era, Brigg umbrella insists on handmade this spirit is commendable

This simple umbrella is still popular with the British, not only Prince Charles and children We take it wherever we go. The British Daily Mail's fashion columnist David also included it in the book "101 Things That Don't Buy the Dead".

Brigg is still the royal favorite

0da1ag0# until today It is not only a standard equipment for gentlemen. In the last century, the Brigg umbrella broke through the dimension wall and appeared on the screen as a film and television prop. The hero and heroine of "Song in the Rain" dances in the rain with this umbrella; the Japanese drama "My Gentleman Fashion" introduces that when the umbrella is opened, you will hear the sound like stepping through the first snow...

11d2a The umbrella shared by the owner of#"雨中曲" is Brigg umbrella

In the hot "Ace Agent" series of movies in recent years, the Brigg umbrella also frequently appeared in the hands of Agent Colin Firth as a gentleman. A typical example, he said a classic sentence in the play: "Manners maketh man" (Old English usage). Only by reasoning can you grow up, and your behavior can create character.

The Brigg umbrella in "Ace Agent"

may copy the dress of gentlemen, but the dress is simpler For a true gentleman, behavior in life is more important. Just like the Brigg umbrella, is the "Rolls-Royce of Umbrellas", but chooses to show people in a low-key manner and never show up.

Cai Lan once said, "British products have remained unchanged for hundreds of years, never follow the fashion, and are durable for life." From the standard of a gentleman to Today’s screen classic, the Brigg umbrella reveals a truth- Sometimes insisting on being yourself can become an eternal classic.