MM/2026/011
3 September 2026

For much of its recorded history, Extraordinary House maintained a register of umbrellas entering and leaving the premises.

The practice was introduced following a wet Tuesday on which eleven umbrellas arrived and twelve departed.

Rather than investigate the discrepancy directly, the House appointed a Temporary Committee on Portable Shelter. The Committee sat for four years.

Under the resulting regulations, each umbrella was assigned a number, a brief physical description and, where possible, a declared owner. Black umbrellas presented particular difficulties. One entry describes an item merely as “black, probable”, while another records “the usual kind, but with ambitions”.

Members were required to sign the register whenever an umbrella crossed the threshold. This applied regardless of whether it was raining or whether the umbrella belonged to them.

The system soon revealed that ownership was not a stable condition.

Umbrella 41 was claimed by six members over a period of nine months. Umbrella 18 remained at the House for eleven years before being removed by a visitor who stated that he had never seen it before. Umbrella 7 was repeatedly signed out but never signed in.

The most serious incident concerned Umbrella 63, which disappeared during a perfectly dry luncheon. A circular was issued, interviews were conducted and the porter’s room was searched. The umbrella returned three days later accompanied by a written apology, apparently in a different hand from that of its owner.

By 1932, the register contained more umbrellas than could be physically located. The Committee concluded that the missing examples remained administratively present and therefore required no further action.

Extraordinary House retains the final volume of the register. Members wishing to consult it may do so, provided they arrive without an umbrella.