Editing Umbrella (section)

====United States====
[[Beehler Umbrella Factory]] est. 1828 was the first umbrella manufacturing company in the United States. Francis Beehler was a woodcarver in his home country of Germany. After he immigrated to [[Baltimore, Maryland]], he noticed a lack of umbrellas. Americans generally scorned the devices for their "ridiculous effeminacy". Nevertheless he used his talents in making wooden poles and whale bone ribbed umbrellas to create a new market (steel rib designs would not appear until after 1852). Beehler's success attracted competitors. Baltimore was long recognized as the umbrella capital of the country; at the industry's peak in 1920 there were seven umbrella companies in the city producing millions of umbrellas annually.<ref name="Bernstein">{{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Amy L. |title=Baltimore, 1797-1997: Bringing Our Heritage into the 21st Century |publisher=Cherbo Pub. Group |location=Encino, CA |year=1997 |page=121 |chapter=The First American Made Umbrellas |isbn=978-1-882933-17-4 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/baltimore17971990000bern/page/120/mode/2up?q=%22Francis+Beehler%22 }}</ref>