Hills Hoist: The Iconic Rotary Clothesline that Shaped Suburban Australia
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It is sad that so many areas in North America banned the clothes line, a massive impact on the environment and incredibly expensive.
Back then we figured out ways to keeps ourselves entertained. No computers or tablets so it was either be bored or figure something out that was fun and wouldn't get you into trouble.... much.
The only people I can think of that has one now are my Grandparents, and they have a farm with plenty of space. I'm sure there's still plenty of concrete pads that formerly held one of these lying around though.
Rather than being a toy as a kid (I don't know why we didn't hang off them much, maybe we weren't allowed) they were an annoying metal obstacle smack bang right in the middle of the lawn, the concrete pads and metal sides intent to injure during a game of backyard cricket or bullrush.
They were solid though, we've broken two of the extendible ones from hanging heavy waterlogged blankets, would never happen with a rotary line.
I like the idea of using it for an outdoor shade structure (vintage ad in the OP), will have to try that this summer..
My mum's Uncle Rol, Harolds brother, was a part of the team with the firm. Hills Hoists started with an idea to get into business, between two founders [0] during WW2.
The problem: If you were a housewife with kids there was no easy way to hang clothes. [1] String a rope between two poles was the common way to do things. Two problems, you need two sturdy poles and have to move to hang clothes. The company started in at home in Glenunga, Adelaide. Here is view of the order book and Glen Osmond Road factory in '46. [2] Every year after that the company size grew, the factory in '47 [3] and so did the team. [4]
If you were a house wife in the 40s, 50s and you needed dry clothes this was the way to do it. [5] There was another manufacturer on the market (Gilbert Tonnes #24553/25 - 1925) [6] but the patent for the winder (gearbox to raise and lower the hoist) expired. It was only in the 50's did Hills decide to file patent on the winding mechanism. [6] I'm not sure how Hills avoided patent infringement here but eventually the Toyne patent expired and on 22nd March, 1956 the patent was applied for the winding mechanism (crown wheel and pinion). [7]
By the 60's the factory had grown somewhat [8] and the move to diversification started. From Hoists, play equipment, then TV servicing, Television antennas, exhausts and electronics. All this was made possible by two founders, and a good core team.
This is what a manufacturing startup looked like in the late 40's, and 1950s. By the 80's this was a billion dollar company that by the 60s expanded into the UK and overseas. If you look through the photos you really get an idea of how many people were employed and what kind of scale the production was.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/page2
Most kids who grew up in Australia in my generation, had one of these contraptions in the back yard [9] to swing, hang-off and use in ways not thought of by the founders. [10]
I last saw mums uncle Rol at my grand mothers funeral in '85. He'd travelled from Adelaide that hot summer and we talked about his war service (Tobruk) and Hoists. Rol offered a job in the electronics division (Antennas), but I was at Uni at that time, declined and thanked him. Computers were my fascination.
Reference
[0] https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8512016128
[1] https://au.pinterest.com/pin/393009504952667831/
[2] http://nationaltreasures.nla.gov.au/3E/Treasures/item/nla.in... / https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8531995775
[3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8531994695/
[4] https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8511081973/
[5] https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8510969367/
[6] http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/pdfSource.do?f... (pdf) / http://s742.photobucket.com/user/bazza4338/media/Stampboards...
[6] This is the gear mechanism patented https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8532993704/
[7] http://www.dinkumaussies.com/INVENTION%2FLance%20Hill.htm
[8] https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8533529532
[9] https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/5721585751
[10] https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8511172789/
Precisely zero of these clothes lines made it to the UK - you never see them - so there must be a reason for that. In the UK they may have failed compared to the more modern rotary design because that uses far less metal and does not have the heavy and unnecessary handle. In the UK portability probably matters more due to the rain.
So, I am not surprised you'd never see these anywhere outside of a generally sunny climate. Space is also a factor - the average yard size in Australia is far larger than that of the UK, though it is shrinking in the major cities.
The handle certainly helps to prevent head injuries when mowing the lawn around them. I've hurt myself a few times after forgetting to wind ours back up.
This is an example of the more modern, detachable design. It's ready to use in under a minute.
As a child growing up in the suburbs of Boston, we had something similar in our backyard. It would come out with the summer patio furniture and return the shed when autumn hit. Not only it more eco-friendly, but the long term damage of high-heat is pretty well studied in the scientific community[1].
I was actually interested enough to test this out on my own. During the regular Brooks Brothers 2 for $100 bi-yearly sales, I picked up two identical blue oxford cloth button-down shirts (of domestic manufacture, circa 2012). I weighed them to make sure the oz/in quality was comparable, along with a pretty thorough defect analysis to inspect the quality of the seams, how well the buttons were anchored (they both had anchor points), qualify of cuff/plackets, etc. They were more or less comparable in quality, but I selected the one with more flaws to be used as the 'air dry' (I took a Sharpie and scribed with a red x to denote the 'air dry' to maintain consistency.)
Both of these shirts were washed in the same unit, with the same detergents and had uniform wear patterns (amortized over time at least). They'd get ~3 wears in the winter, and generally 2 in the summer, followed by a wash in cold/cold with on 'medium' agitation. I wish I had pictures to document the evolution, but after ~6 months the color fade became was pronounced to such an amount that I could identify between the two. This fade continued in more or less monotonic ln() fashion as a function of time.
The structural failure occurred on the 'dryer' unit around 3.5 years into the purchase. It failed at the at the elbow, though curiously not due to fabric wear fatigue in a stress-loaded position (i.e. the conventional 'blazer hole'), but the seam that bound the sleeve together[2].
Obviously there's no rigor to this anecdotal story. But any article of clothing that I've got some sentimental attachment to will get air-dried just to prolong the longevity. For those who are curious, the 'air dry' experimental unit was retired after ~6 years of use due to structural deformation[3] of the experimenter.
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[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/08/990831080157.h... [2] I.e. construct a paper cylinder, slide it over your lower arm, and cut it in from your elbow towards your hand. [3] I.e., I put on ~25 lb of the indolent variety between 24 and ~29. I went up a jacket size (36R->38R) and 2inches of waist.
Typically if the weather was nice we would hang the clothes before school/work, and they'd be done at the end of the day. Some years we would go as late as Thanksgiving before taking it down for the winter.