Just as iconic is the Montreal clothesline, strung on 3 levels along the length of terrace houses. They are like conveyor belts for clothes, and fantastically efficient.<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/groups/cordes-a-linge-mtl/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/groups/cordes-a-linge-mtl/</a><p>It is sad that so many areas in North America banned the clothes line, a massive impact on the environment and incredibly expensive.
These used to be ubiquitous in New Zealand backyards as well, although now everyone has the variety that extends or folds out from the side of the house.<p>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.<p>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.<p>They were solid though, we've broken two of the extendible ones from hanging heavy waterlogged blankets, would never happen with a rotary line.
There is even a drinking game that Australian's developed using the Hills Hoist: "Goon of Fortune".<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goon_of_Fortune" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goon_of_Fortune</a>
OT: I am from a large-ish city in Eastern Europe. I grew up calling clothes hangers "trempel". Everyone in my town did. Neither my parents nor my grandparents knew that they had a different name throughout the rest of the Russian speaking word ("plechiki" translated as "little shoulders") and that Trempel was actually a last name of an early manufacturer of them in my area. It's sort of a Xerox vs copy machine thing except here I wouldn't have recognized the other word for it at all, and people from outside my region wouldn't have recognized mine.
<i>"Lance Hill's brother-in-law Harold Ling returned from the war and joined him to form a partnership in 1946. Ling became the key figure in expanding the production and marketing of the Hills Hoists."</i><p>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.<p>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]<p>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]<p>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.<p>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.<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/page2" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/page2</a><p>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]<p>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.<p>Reference<p>[0] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8512016128" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8512016128</a><p>[1] <a href="https://au.pinterest.com/pin/393009504952667831/" rel="nofollow">https://au.pinterest.com/pin/393009504952667831/</a><p>[2] <a href="http://nationaltreasures.nla.gov.au/3E/Treasures/item/nla.int-ex8-s25/" rel="nofollow">http://nationaltreasures.nla.gov.au/3E/Treasures/item/nla.in...</a> / <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8531995775" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8531995775</a><p>[3] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8531994695/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8531994695/</a><p>[4] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8511081973/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8511081973/</a><p>[5] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8510969367/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8510969367/</a><p>[6] <a href="http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/pdfSource.do?fileQuery=t%8D%91%85%7F%87Y%7E%8E%8B%93%8AB%82%85%88%81%8A%7D%89%81Y%5DqMUNQLNPQQO%5ELJ%8C%80%82Bp%84%81Yp%84%81" rel="nofollow">http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/pdfSource.do?f...</a> (pdf) / <a href="http://s742.photobucket.com/user/bazza4338/media/Stampboards/Inventions/HillsHoistPatent1925.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">http://s742.photobucket.com/user/bazza4338/media/Stampboards...</a><p>[6] This is the gear mechanism patented <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8532993704/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8532993704/</a><p>[7] <a href="http://www.dinkumaussies.com/INVENTION%2FLance%20Hill.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.dinkumaussies.com/INVENTION%2FLance%20Hill.htm</a><p>[8] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8533529532" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8533529532</a><p>[9] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/5721585751" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/5721585751</a><p>[10] <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8511172789/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hillsholdingsltd/8511172789/</a>
The price on that thing is insane. $349 for the small model, $1,198 for the big one.[1] A cheap aluminum one is only $49 on Amazon.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?field-keywords=hills%20hoist" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/s?field-keywords=hills%20hoist</a>
Over engineered?<p>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.