Out of the shade: uncovering the manufacture and use of umbrellas and parasols, 1830-1850

Abstract

Though umbrellas and parasols have yet to claim a significant scholarly presence, they remain ubiquitous in material, documentary, and visual sources from the antebellum period. The papers of David Harriot & Co., a small umbrella and parasol making firm that operated in New York City between 1831 and 1845, facilitate a deeper study of this industry and the objects it produced. This thesis puts the production practices of David Harriot & Co. in context, analyzing data patterns in the firm’s records and situating the firm within the umbrella and parasol industry in the United States and worldwide. It investigates the materials, methods of production, and networks of trade that made possible the manufacture and distribution of umbrellas and parasols in the United States, and touches upon the social meanings communicated through the use of umbrellas and parasols.

The American umbrella and parasol making industry grew rapidly during the antebellum period as it began to transition from a, craft-based form of production to an increasingly mechanized, industrialized, and standardized system of manufacture. The use of outwork, task payments, and assembling processes characterized the production processes of many firms, particularly smaller ones like David Harriot & Co. Recognizing the variety of production and distribution techniques used throughout the umbrella and parasol industry gives a fuller sense of the spectrum of manufacturing that existed in the 1830s and 1840s.

This study concludes by raising questions about the larger social and cultural ramifications of how these objects were used. Through a careful analysis of the many methods used to make umbrellas and parasols, this thesis hopes to facilitate greater consideration of the American umbrella and parasol making industry and the complicated products of these firms.