Hill's Hoists, the very picture of Australian kitsche since the mid-40s and are found in half of every backyard across the land. It looks like an umbrella skeleton with strong line woven between the tines. Easy to use: crank the arms down so you can reach the lines. Start pinning (pegging) up your clothes from the inside out-no need to let the neighbors see your holey underwear. Then crank it back up. The arms twirl like whirlygigs when there is a breeze which helps hasten drying of the clothes. It is also a great way to have fun when you are little by getting a running start, grab an arm and twirl around on your own momentum.
Of course, all this motion is no fun when a person is trying to put up or take down clothing, so there is a Breeze Brake to keep the contraption steady during this function.
This is a treasured icon of Australian life and lore. It fits the OZ sense of kitsche (kangaroos and koalas are cliche) and no movie about the 60s leaves one out. In fact, one motion picture production company has as it's logo a kid hanging from a Hill's Hoist. Oh, the childhood memories.
We don't have such a clothesline in our minuscule backyard. Ours is functional, flat and collapsible to the wall of the building. No swinging on that line. Shucks.
Readers post Happy Memories:
ReplyDeleteOh, Hilary, I had one in the backyard when the kids were small and I just adored it. I loved hanging linens out but one day the baby sheets got a tick on them and I thought I just can't go through each piece of linen and check so that was the demise. I do still hang out hand washables on hangers under my patio umbrella. I also bleach white stuff on the lawn occasionally which was a trick my mom used with lemon juice to get out stains. Everything smells so good when you hang it out. Oh, I just remembered that to hold the dryer thing up we put a pipe in a concrete square and we could lift it out and store it when guests came. We let the kids put their handprints in it and I think it is still in the yard somewhere as a stepping stone and I think I will go look for it today.
D.