Borrow, Discover, Return
- Feb 1, 2015
- 2 min read
Enjoy walking downtown Edmonds, rain or shine. By Sarah Polyakov.
If you are fortunate to stroll downtown Edmonds in the rain, you might be left seeing a good kind of green. Our downtown area is wonderfully walk-able and includes a number stores and cafés where one can find something for everyone. While some save exploring downtown Edmonds on foot for sunny days, exploring it rain or shine has been made possible. This delightful experience, that will add a pop of green to the greyest days, is sponsored by the Edmonds Downtown Alliance.
Around the downtown you will see various canisters just outside of stores that contain green umbrellas, which are free for use. The Edmonds Downtown Alliance, whose slogan for this service is “Borrow. Discover. Return.” says this service was inspired by the idea that downtown Edmonds can be enjoyed in all kinds of weather. Community members and visitors are invited to grab one of these chic green umbrellas and enjoy the downtown on foot.
A few other forward thinking cities and tourist destinations are offering a similar service to their communities and tourists. Other places, such as New York City, have even come up with fun missives on umbrella etiquette. A formal public service announcement targeted to those who live in the City begged, “Please don’t wear one of those frog-umbrella hats, unless you are under five years old.”
Throughout history and across cultures, there have been many different names for umbrellas that include: bumbershoot, brolly, parapluie, parasol, and in ancient Rome, umbraculum. No matter what you call it, get outdoors during the next rainy day, stroll downtown Edmonds, and don’t forget to borrow your own signature, green umbrella!
Fun umbrella trivia:
In ancient Egypt evidence of use of the umbrella dates back to 1,200 BC. During this period, the umbrella was also considered a symbol of religious beliefs that were connected to the Gods of fertility and harvest, and those connected to the cycles of death and rebirth.
In 2nd century AD in China, the Emperor Wang Mang of the Han Dynasty, had an umbrella built over his carriage that was both collapsible and had moveable joints.
In ancient Greece, the parasol was a necessity for a fashionable lady during the 5th century BC.
The umbrella is featured as a common theme throughout the art carved on ancient Etruscan vases.
In the Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit, umbrellas were referred to as gamps, after the character Mrs. Gamp.
The modern umbrella, that specifically features ribs of steel covered by fabric, was created in the late 1700s. In total, it took six inventors to create what we know as the ordinary (modern) umbrella and for their invention, it has been reported that they shared $10 million in profits.
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