Simon Mattacks
speaker
2,981 appearances
17 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 13 Sep
Simon Mattacks’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 14 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 3.
Appearances
He was often mocked by other men for carrying an umbrella, but he persevered, refusing to bow to peer pressure.
And eventually, carrying an umbrella became a trend in the city.
As its popularity grew, craftspeople began to pay more attention to the designs, eager to have their umbrellas carried by London's gentry.
The handles and canes were upgraded and sculpted from high quality wood and materials like ebony.
Wealthy gentlemen commissioned their own designs, asking umbrella makers to customize them to suit their preferences.
Some umbrellas even had space for concealed daggers.
However, as the industry in England continued to grow, local business owners began to push back.
Carriage drivers who transported people from A to B on wet days believed that if umbrellas became too widespread, city folks wouldn't use their services when it was raining, and this would greatly affect their income.
But their complaints didn't affect the industry.
In fact, it flourished.
Around the mid-1800s, Samuel Fox, a British industrialist, invented the steel-ribbed umbrella.
This accessory was much lighter to carry, and the price was more affordable.
A company in London saw merit in Fox's steel-ribbed frame design.
A couple of decades earlier, in 1830, James Smith & Sons had opened the first shop in the world dedicated solely to selling umbrellas.
They added Fox's design to their existing portfolio, and the umbrellas were so popular that they had to expand their premises.
The industry as a whole was also seeing further improvements.
thanks to the invention of the sewing machine.
This was a game changer for umbrella manufacturers.
It meant that the long and laborious process of stitching canopies by hand would no longer be required.
Umbrellas could be mass produced quickly, which would in turn generate higher profits.
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