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When it's raining to shading you from the heat and harmful rays of the sun on a bright, beautiful summer day, from keeping you nice and dry, umbrellas prove extremely useful to us in our modern times. The use of umbrellas can be traced all the way back to the ancient city of Nineveh where it was first used by the king as a way to be protected against the scorching heat of the sun. The monarch at that time was a man with no hair and needed the extra protection against the sun's rays. He was the only one who was allowed to carry an umbrella in the entire country.

Records of people using umbrellas for similar purposes can also be found in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, China, India, and even among the Aztecs in North America. In Greece and Rome, umbrellas were an important fashion accessory among the ladies, and often effeminate men of the elite classes. In China in 21 A.D, umbrellas made their first appearance.

By tradition, it is believed that the umbrella originated in China in banners and standards in the air, hence, those of high ranks were most often associated with the use of umbrellas. There was even at least one occasion when the emperor went hunting accompanied by twenty-four umbrellas. The umbrella, eventually, made its way east to Japan through Korea and west to Persia, Europe, and the rest of the western world through the Silk Road. Fast forward a bit to the 17th century and we find that everyone in the upper classes in France and England were using umbrellas.

The umbrella by the 18th century had found its way into popular literature in Robinson Crusoe when the main character makes an umbrella of his own to imitate ones he had often seen used in Brazil. He constructs it out of animal skins with the fur facing outward to keep out of the rain. Even supposing there were plenty of references to umbrellas throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, until the early 20th century when Hans Haupt released his pocket umbrella on the market in 1928, the modern umbrella did not get extremely popular. It continued to grow in fame when Totes Incorporated patented the first 'working folded umbrella' in 1969.

All over the world, umbrellas are now in high demand. Even if the handheld version is still the most famous, there is a high demand for patio umbrellas, especially in America as well. Tilting patio umbrellas are used to protect the user from the sun while still being able to enjoy the outdoors. One thing is certain: a tilting patio umbrella is always the perfect addition to any outdoor patio set.