In the past, umbrellas were made of "oil paper" in the color of tung oil; the poles and ribs of the umbrella were made of bamboo. Although heavy, it was still very convenient to use.

After a heavy rain, shouting would come from the Hutongs in Beijing, from repairmen attracting customers to fix their umbrellas. "Umbrella repair! Umbrella repair!" The umbrella repairmen had no gongs or bells for hawking and they could only use their own voices to yell and to shout. Their voices were hoarse, but they were clear and loud enough to penetrate through the walls and be heard by every house around. The umbrella repairmen would put a long cloth with two rectangular bags sewn at both ends over their shoulders. They would have gimlets, scraper knives, tung oil and brushes in their front bags and bamboo pipes, bamboo sticks, galvanized wires, hemp ropes, and "Korean papers" in the rear bags.

When you opened your door and called one in, he would come into the doorway and get ready to repair your umbrella. When he put up the umbrella, the broken place would be exposed. He would take out the materials and tools he had brought one by one and brush tung oil around the hole above and below the umbrella surface. After the tung oil dried slightly, he would take out a sheet of Korean paper and tear a piece from it off by hand, and attach this small piece of white paper with a rough edge to the hole and then brush it with tung oil. After that, the piece of paper would firmly stick to the hole, and slowly turn from white to the yellow color of tung oil, matching with the umbrella's surface! It was said that the tung oil had been mixed with pig blood, which made it become viscous and water-resistant. The Korean paper was also extremely durable, which was resistant to folding and abrasion.

The repairman would repeat the process a few more times, attaching small pieces of paper over the hole on both sides and brush it with tung oil again. After doing these three or four times, the hole on the surface would be gone, and the umbrella would be fully repaired inside and out and look as good as new!

You could also ask the repairman to change its pole, ribs, and even the whole surface. It would be much cheaper than buying a new one. Summer was the season for repairing umbrellas, but the umbrella repairmen would only repair umbrellas made of bamboo. Repairing umbrellas made of other materials were the work of other craftsmen.
(Note: Content source is from the Beijing News.)