>>>>Terry,
>>>>
>>>>> .. The idea of having umbrella parts, and someone making a living out of fixing them, is so alien here now. ..
>>>>
>>>>Normaly it need a close look around. I know at least one shop that repairs umbrellas.
>>>>
>>>>He works for irreplaceable parts. (And sells the cheap ones too).
>>>
>>>Agnes
>>>
>>>I don't know if you know the old-old song, from the 20s or 30s (as might have been sung by the likes of Laurel & Hardy): "Any umberellas, any umberellas, to fix today ..." from the days when there were street hawkers calling it up to the houses and shops.
>>>
>>>Terry
>>
>>The Umbrella Man.
>>
>>I've only ever heard it by Kay Kyser's band probably from the 40s (maybe the 30s).
>
>It's got that 'coon coat and straw boater feel to it :-)

Yeah. I don't know when it was actually written, just the era from which I heard it.

BTW, we do still have the knife sharpener coming around. He does knives, scissors, lawnmower blades etc. He comes around a few times a summer in his truck, accompanied by the sound of a clanging bell.

Unfortunately, the milkman, the iceman, the breadman and the ragman are all history. Fortunately(?), I'm old enough to remember them all.