Sunday, April 2, 2006

The Umbrella Man

The 1930s was the era of one-man entrepreneurs like the umbrella man. Every family had two or three umbrellas in the house for use on rainy and sunny days.
These umbrellas lasted for years of service, except for some minor repairs, and were hardly ever thrown away. However, there wasn't an umbrella repair shop anywhere in the city that I recall.
The "fixer" was usually a man who walked the streets throughout the neighborhoods during the spring and summer months and he would periodically walk down our street in Philadelphia, calling out from under his open umbrella, "fix your umbrella, fix your umbrella all kinds, big or small, fix your umbrella."
Most people would recognize his sing-song voice and would come to their door with a broken umbrella as he approached.
A bundle of umbrellas and parts as well as his special tools were strapped to his back and a happy smile would cross his face. He would greet his customers, unstrap his knapsack-workshop, sit on the doorstep and fix the umbrella for 25 cents or more, depending on how much work was involved. Then he would show the customer the repaired umbrella, opening and closing it, then accept his money, repack his knapsack and be on his way with a melodic voice singing, "fix your umbrellas, big or small, fix your umbrellas."
This merchant of umbrella repairs inspired a song, "The Umbrella Man," which became a popular tune of the day.

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