The Beachette

Esther Brown was granted a patent (No. 2,266,684) in 1938 for the "beachette," which was a wearable beach umbrella. A beachgoer could wear the fabric of the umbrella as a skirt/cape/hat combo. The pole doubled as a cane. When they got to the beach it could all be assembled into an umbrella.

The problems I see: a) you've still got to carry the pole; and b) I bet assembling/disassembling the thing was a nuisance.

Cincinnati Enquirer - Jul 8, 1938

Pittsburgh Press - Sep 25, 1938

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 13, 2021
Category: Fashion | Inventions | Patents | 1930s

Comments

That reminds me of the German tourists I met on top of the mountain in the rain when I was a kid. We were on a tropical island, it wasn't supposed to rain, and yet those damn Germans had their walking sticks, rain coats, and hats ready. I'm sure those doubled as beach umbrellas when they returned to the beach.

Posted by Yudith on 12/15/21 at 08:02 PM

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