Clothes hanger

Chain coat-hanger detail. Jacket (military), wool, dated 1900. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira: 739982 (object number).

Referred to as a coat-hanger, the small piece of fabric attached to the nape of the neck inside a coat or jacket was developed in 1830, enabling the hanging of such types of outer clothing.[2] Around 1850, small chains were developed to be used in place of fabric loops, though the use of loops of fabric continued, and are still a feature present in many garments today.[2]

US President Thomas Jefferson was known to have a device for hanging clothes in his closet at Monticello.[3] However, today's most-used hanger, the shoulder-shaped wire hanger, was inspired by a coat hook that was invented in 1869 by O. A. North of New Britain, Connecticut.[4] An employee of the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company, Albert J. Parkhouse of Jackson, Michigan has also been credited with the invention. The story goes that one morning in 1903, Parkhouse arrived to work to find that all coat hooks were taken. Annoyed, he took a piece of wire, bent it into the shape we would recognize today, and hung his coat.[5] Also credited is Christopher Cann in 1876 as an engineering student at Boston University.

In 1906 Meyer May, a men's clothier of Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first retailer to display his wares on his wishbone-inspired hangers. Some of these original hangers can be seen at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meyer May House in Grand Rapids.

Various clothes hangers

In 1932 Schuyler C. Hulett patented an improved design, which used cardboard tubes mounted on the upper and lower parts of the wire to prevent wrinkles, and in 1935 Elmer D. Rogers added a tube on the lower bar, which is still used.[6]

Hangers can be made in wood, wire, plastic, rarely from a rubber substance and other materials. Some are padded with fine materials, such as satin, for expensive clothes, lingerie and fancy dresses. The soft, plush padding is intended to protect garments from shoulder dents that wire hangers may make. A caped hanger is an inexpensive wire clothing hanger covered in paper. Caped hangers are used by dry cleaners to protect garments after cleaning. Used wire hangers may be recycled, or returned to the dry cleaner.[7]

The development of travel hangers, which are designed to provide a compact solution for travelers who require a simple, lightweight and foldable hanger that can accommodate their clothing needs, was a natural progression in the evolution of hangers. These hangers have been specifically designed with the traveler in mind, with their folding design allowing users to wrap their clothing around the hanger, making it easier to pack and store in their luggage.

This evolution has not only focused on their functionality and design but also on their environmental impact. The use of recycled plastics is one way in which hangers can be more sustainable. The production of hangers from recycled materials reduces waste, conserves energy and resources, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. This development is a natural progression in the evolution of hangers, aligning with global efforts to reduce plastic waste and promote sustainability.

The wire is versatile, and wire clothes hangers are often used as cheap sources of semi-tough wire, more available than baling wire for all sorts of home projects. The use of wire clothes hangers for use as makeshift welding rod has been common for nearly 100 years. Similarly, many similar do-it-yourself and children's projects use wire hangers as holders of various types, from keeping a brake caliper from hanging by the brake line during auto repair work to securing a gate on a birdcage. The much-loved 'Advent crown' made for children's TV program Blue Peter was made from four-wire coathangers.[8] Coathangers can be used to make dowsing rods.[9] After sanding, wire hangers also find uses as conducting wire for uses as varied as hot-wiring cars to games[10] to testing hand steadiness. They are commonly used to gain forcible entry into older automobiles whose locks and entry systems are not protected from such methods. There is a long history of using wire coat hangers as replacement car radio antennas. Clothes hangers are also commonly used as an implement for roasting marshmallows or hot dogs at camp-outs.

Abortion poster with wire hanger during Women's March, Frankfurt, 2017

Collecticus magazine reported in October 2007 that clothes hangers have now become collectible, especially those with a famous company or event advertised across the front. For example, a 1950 Butlins hanger sold for £10.10 in October 2006 within Collecticus.

In 1995, while performing surgery in an airliner at 35,000 feet (11,000 m), orthopedic surgeon Angus Wallace and his fellow doctor Tom Wong used an unfolded coathanger, sterilised with brandy, as a trocar to stiffen a catheter for use as a chest tube to relieve a passenger's pneumothorax.[11][12]

Straightened-out wire clothes hangers have been used to perform unsafe and/or illegal abortions (frequently self-induced) by inserting the wire through the cervix and into the uterus, in order to cause the uterus to expel its contents. This life-threatening method poses severe risks to the person on whom it is performed.[13] At pro-choice protests, wire clothes hangers have been used as symbols of the danger of criminalizing elective abortion.[13][14]

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  Plastic clothes hanger for suit jackets or heavy coats
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  Clamp
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  Clip hanger with two clamps
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  Clip hanger with only one clamp

• Clothes line
• Clothes valet
• Coat rack
• Drying rack
• Pimp stick
• Shoe hanger

• Media related to Clothes hangers at Wikimedia Commons