Yeatman High School - Yeatman Life Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Z M Z Z Z2 ? ,v,,:, ..f.,. W Z ,,.. ,,,, I ,4A U M B R E L L A S AT ANOTHER ANGLE ADLAI TOENNIES g ' Q N UMBRELLA is just an ordinary QAN . . M3526 thing. People have never written books about it, but there are some very important things concerning it that every one ought to know. Why is it car- ried? If it is a gayly colored parasol car- ried by some similarly clad young lady, one realizes at once that it will do her as much good as a pair of ear-rings, for she would not think of getting it wet for any- thing in the world. A young man of about eighteen years of age, walking down the street on a fairly cloudy day and carrying a neatly rolled umbrella, is not thinking of catching cold from getting wet. He is thinking, rather, of that fine crease in his trousers or of that stiff collar he is wearing. If, on the other hand, an umbrella is car- ried by an elderly man or woman, one can judge in a minute that they are carrying it to be prepared. If a small boy is dragging it along on the sidewalk, one can be sure that, down in his heart, he is ashamed to carry it. Still, umbrellas were made to be used, so let every one carry his according to the way he likes. Now, let us turn to the history of the umbrella. In Eastern countries from the earliest times, the umbrella was the insig- nia of royalty and power. Kings and some times lesser noble men going in processions would be shaded by an umbrella of a crude and clumsy nature carried by a servant. The Mahretta princes of India had among their titles, lord of the umbrella, and the King of Burmah, in 1855, when addressing the Governor-General of India, referred to himself as the monarch who reigns over the great umbrella wearing chiefs of the Eastern countries. Imagine President Harding saying such a thing as that, to- Pzzge Forgf-Six day. The umbrella, in that part of the world, was and is still regarded as a luxury belonging to those of the upper class. The Roman and Greek ladies used as a sunshade a fancier type than that of the East, but the using of an umbrella of any shape by the men was considered a sign of effeminacy. From this, I think that the eleven-year-old boy of today gets his idea that a boy who carries an umbrella is a sissy. Along in the Eighteenth Century, the umbrella was kept in the coffee houses of England to lend to any one caught in the rain. Right here began the big mistake. It is no wonder that the managers of the coffee houses went broke and the manufac- turers of umbrellas became rich. Besides, it started a bad precedent. Today, it is no uncommon thing for a person to go out in rainy weather, meet some of his friends and recognize several familiar umbrellas. So through all the years, the umbrella has flourished and we still use it for practically the same purposes. Its construction, too, has remained the same throughout all these years, except, that at first the umbrella was made to be held open by the hand. The fellow who invented bumbershoot variety, was the man with brains, for he supplied thousands of children with thrills and thousands of repair men with jobs putting in new spring Still, the child must have some pleasure, and besides, bumbersh0ot springs don't cost a fortune. There are times when the umbrella comes in handy, but there are also times when it does not. For instance, a person enters a church late on a rainy morning. The prayer is halfway through when the person takes a seat in the last row without a bit of noise. Then the tricky, gold-han- dled umbrella falls clattering to the floor.

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T3 X ff 1 x 5 SZ fi r T i 4 ' ' .. ,..,. .,..,... . ,.,. . L'u::..n... W4 ,,,,. . .. V. f ,l .. W 4 U Xl l3Rllll,l,AS AT ONE ANGLE DOROTHY JEFFREY MBRELLAS: They have always been queer things, haven't they? L? But long ago they were queerer than they are now. Then people carried a family umbrella, and father, mother and the chil- dren trooped along under it. These um- brellas went single file down the street, for there wasn't room for two of those things. In fact, we can't see how the other umbrel- las got wet when one was out. There sim- ply couldn't be enough rain to wet two of them! And they weren't objects of art. They were great, round shapes usually of black and always of cotton. Any conven- ient broom stick apparently made an ideal handle for one of them. Imagine one of those immense umbrellas turning inside out? Father held the umbrella and mother clung to his arm with one hand, while, with the other she saved her skirts from the mud. Behind, trouped four or five chil- dren all safe, interested in the welfare of the giant rain-stick. A fresh gust of wind whirled around the corner. Father wildly clutched the umbrella, but it was doomed. When one saw the wreck, one wondered why they hadn't used it for a tent. To me, a person in trouble with an um- brella is the most pathetic creature in the world. Any one who has experienced it knows what a woe-begone, dismal feeling it gives. For instance, take our daily rainy day program. It rains hard. We go to the umbrella stand, but our family has beaten us there. We pick up the sad re- maining specimen. Still, we think, At least it is silk. We go out. The umbrella looks all right when it is shut, but, when after a struggle it reluctantly opens, we are shocked. Ribs go every way but the right way and the silk slips up them. But patiently we fix it. We know how, because we've done it before. Then we start out with it held low over our head, hoping that the man next door won't recognize it. We hold it forward and a stream runs down our back, we hold it far back and the wind threatens to be its next borrower. We cross the street. In the middle, our um- brella gives up the struggle and collapses. We eye it sadly-W we couldn't be much wet- ter than we are. A friend hails us and we leave the umbrella lying forlornly in the gutter, all its heroic struggles and brave deeds forgotten. When we return, it is still there. No one wants it. We deter- mine to buy a new umbrella. The new ones have ivory handles and flowers paint- ed on them. We buy one, wondering if the flowers will help keep out the rain, It rains and we wonder no longer. We wring out our best hat Next time it rains, we rise early, and lovingly clutch our grand- father's black cotton umbrella. Far be it from me to scorn those staunch and tried friends. They come to our aid in many ways. For instance, we are broke and the brute to whom we owe a dollar ap- proaches. Who is a better friend than the umbrella which we lower over our faces? And who is a better friend to the hobbed- hair lass than the umbrella which shields her permanent curl? And we, whose um- brella turns inside out just as a handsome person at whom we have ineffectually cast glances for months, approaches under an umbrella, aren't we sure at that moment that umbrellas are lovely? Oh, truly I say, though at times we may scorn them haughtily, yet when the sky weeps, we forget our aversion and sally forth under our friend of the ivory handle and the shaky ribs. Pfzgr l m'rv I :'.'s

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,.,., . f LZ, ,,.. ,,,. ,, , . Humiliation cannot describe the feelings of the person who came late. An umbrella accompanied by many small bundles in the arms of a passenger is as dangerous as a long hat pin in a street car. An umbrella, a hat, an armful of books and are enough to trip any school boy when ascending the stairs. So you see that, although an um- brella is a friend, sometimes it is a treach- erous enemy. As for the handles of umbrellas, they va- ry in shape from an ordinary knotty piece of wood to an elaborate gold or ivory horse head. They were originally solid, but since Prohibition there has been some talk that they would be made hollow and with a screw top. One good sized handle ought H1 to hold a pint. An umbrella like this would be exceedingly Wet. An lmbrella han- dle is a very important thing because if you have a good mental picture of it, you can always identify your umbrella if lost or borrowedg therefore get acquainted with your umbrella handle. Many other things could be said about the umbrella, for instance, the tilt at which it should be held, ibut then that de- pends upon the angle at which the rain is fallingl, or which hand it should be car- ried in or what it is made of, orfOh, any number of things concerning it, but as these of which I have spoken are the most important, I will leave you to consider them gravely and earnestly. SCX X fndfa pw' rip-lx., Ixagfvov F' fm, XA dxf? Ove? . M l X yy Il? i X l Q, fl l lu im ilu l l l Q! -...,........-fv W s,X so lights' N A Q .X lu:ivgL5.iiiiiLlyi4J,,g, ,V ...yi Y it i za egg i glGi.lUG?Gllyf Alias, Q ' L f- ea a ' A ' Inv? TI-I li S EN lOR'S lf,-XRliWl-'l ,l. 151.56 I m'1,v-Sf' 71