Fashionable Canes A Status Symbol
In the periods long before our modern Western Civilization, the cane had much more meaning. It was handed down as part of the family's heritage and became part of the family tree — in a sense — almost Biblical. There was always a ceremony associated with the handing over of the family, tribe, or clan's cane.
In today's culture we see a small revival back to some of the customs of the Bible. Handing down the family cane to the eldest is a sign of a "Coming of Age" for both men and women. The ancient family cane is generally relegated to hanging on a wall in the family room or den today.
At the beginning of our civilization, poles, weapons, supports, and walking-aids were the same thing. During the course of time the cane became a status symbol for men; you only have to think of the bishop's staff and the scepters of kings and emperors that symbolized power. For about the past four hundred years a walking stick or cane has became a fashion accessory, not a man in town would go out of an evening without one! The more splendid the cane the more it confirmed the high social status of its owner.
The cane was often carried at the same time as the essential sword. Gradually, however our society began to replace the swords with the walking cane as the main symbol of gentility.
However, just as the cane had replaced the sword as an accessory to high fashion dress in the 19th century, the umbrella gradually replaced the cane in the beginning of the 20th century. The dress cane now appears only at very formal occasions. At the same time women began carrying an umbrella that was also a cane. This was considered quite fashionable for the times. The umbrella women's cane could be quite elaborate. The cloth material was usually silk from the Orient and the woods could be of almost any exotic wood from unique places around the world.
One of the main sources of fashionable canes in North America today is CanesCanada This company, in Canada, makes canes from all kinds of exotic woods including ebony. Ebony is a tight celled wood and takes a high elegant shine — and it keeps its shine — a very desirable feature in fashionable canes. The company also makes canes with ivory inlays, gold inlays, silver inlays, brass inlays, precious and semi-precious gem inlays, and the cane can be made from almost any material; high-strength plastic, wood, or metal. It's the buyers choice.
But mobility still matters, canes can still be fashionable canes, and functional at the same time. Men and women with an ambulatory dysfunction can use a strong fashionable canes as readily as a more ordinary one.
