Parasol Project, Introduction

I don't have a place to put a blog post like this.  "Winged Pilgrim" has typically been a place for travel stories, and it has served very well.  At this point in my life, I probably should be using it for travel stories some more, but I'm just not in the mood.  What I AM in the mood for is SEWING!  I'll summarize my feelings about this mood in another post (probably), but for now, I want to tell you about something Really Cool.

Two years ago, when Joel was visiting me in Boston for a month (back when he was living in Beijing and we were long distance relationshipping), we went on a weekend trip up to Acadia, Maine.  It was super cold.  That is my main impression.  We saw some cool views, but there was mostly still snow on everything, and we ran out of time, since Acadia is Way The Heck Up There from Boston.  Sigh.

On the way back, though, there was one thing I knew I wanted to do.  My mom and brother and I had taken a trip to Acadia back when I was in undergrad, and we had stumbled upon a huge barn full of antiques for sale <3 <3 <3  It was the type of place I could get lost in forever, and I found a great book on the artist J.C. Leyendecker.  Now, with Joel, I was hoping that we would stumble upon this place again.  I was counting on there being only one main road heading south from Acadia.  Guess what?  I was right.

The treasure I found this time around was a vintage parasol with a white wooden burl handle.  The white fabric was stained in some places and torn in others.  It had a simple faux drawn thread-work insertion band and these weird (seemingly rather modern) lace daisies stitched on in random places.  I gingerly attempted to open it, and the slidey thing (which I now know is called a 'runner') slid smoothly up and hooked simply into position.  No creaking, cracking, or straining sounds!  In my head I was like, I need a parasol.  I've always needed a parasol...

I fell in love with its quirky burl handle and jaunty brass spike tip, plus it only cost 25$, so I took it home with me!  And now, two years later, I am getting around to replacing the fabric and restoring it to usable and relatively historically accurate (HA) glory!!  (I may need to construct an entirely new HA outfit to go with it.. who can tell?)

Today I took it all apart, and now I am attempting to date it.  First, let's describe the frame.

The various parts of a parasol or umbrella (after Farrell 1985:91 Fig. 76)
from https://poplarforestarchaeology.com/2013/05/14/442/

Overall length 38 inches.
The handle is made of a white pine (?) burl.  13 inches long.

The stick is a pale varnished wood.  20 inches long from base of spike to top of handle.

The spike is an extension of the stick with a brass (?) cap on it.  Spike being 5 inches long, with the brass cap being 1.5 inches.

There are 8 ribs made of a dark metal but painted white (the paint is chipping in places).  Each one is 19.5 inches, including a brass rib tip (or ferrule) of a little less than one inch.

The stretchers are also white painted metal, each 8 inches long. 

The ribs and stretchers are not solid-in-diameter metal wires--they have a U-shaped cross-section, if that makes any sense, with the rounded edge facing out and the groove to the inside.  I'm assuming this makes each length stronger.

The runner and the top notch are the same brass as the spike tip.

The gits (best word ever) are all carefully wrapped in small swatches of white cotton, apparently to protect the outer fabric from the metal hinge wear and tear.

Its wingspan (ferrule to opposite ferrule) is 39.5 inches.

Now let's see about some pictures... 

As you can see, the fabric really does need to be replaced.  I have some good possible parasol fabrics in my stash....

from left to right, top to bottom: vintage lace strip (not sure I have enough), modern cream lace, thin cream silk, green and blue striped silk, sea foam green silk, pale green linen, HOT PINK cotton, and thin black silk. 

Possibly I have other options, but these are the ones that yelled PARASOL on my first dig-through.

Now, I have to say that I've wanted to use that striped silk for this parasol ever since I first laid eyes on it..  Can't you just see the stripes chevron-ing at each rib?...  *dreamy sigh*  And I like the idea of color, but I have to be honest, I think the pink is already out (it's pretty bright).  The cream silk with lace over it would create a really romantic look, though I am usually more about crisp construction than frilly details.

Before I choose any of these options, I need to know where in time this parasol belongs and what it's fellow parasol peers would be wearing back in the day.  I could make something completely off the wall and according to my whims, but honestly, the only time I'll be using it is when I want to look the part.  So HA it is! 

Off to the internet to find things out!