Where The Clothes Hanger Originated From

There are implements that we use in our normal daily activities, that we never pay much attention to. An example of one of these items are every day white plastic hangers. Clothes hangers perform such a fundamental task, and their shape is so elementary, it makes us wonder who conceived and developed the clothes hanger originally.

There are now many different purposes that we utilize hangers for as well as different types of hangers.

The most popular design and the one we are most familiar with, and the type most other hangers were based on is the wire hanger, but before there was even a wire hanger, we had the coat hook. At the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company in Jackson, Mississippi, they needed some more coat hooks in 1903 and this paved the way for a brad new invention. Albert J. Parkhouse, an employee of the company came up with an innovation to solve their trouble of not enough hooks for the number of coats at the company.

Mr. Parkhouse fashioned a piece of wire into 2 ovals and then bent the ends into a hook shape. This was the first example of a wire hanger. In 1932 a patent was created for a clothes hanger. Schulyer Hulett created this design which featured cardboard tubes mounted over the wires in an effort to prevent clothes from wrinkling when hung on them. A 1935 upgrade included a cardboard tube for the lower part where you could hang pants. You can still see this style of hanger being used today as it is an inexpensive choice when the hanger in question is going to be disposed of, such as with dry cleaning and shipping.

Clothes hangers have been developed and improved upon over the last seventy years, as well. The most popular style used in home are the multicolored plastic kind. These hangers will maintain shape and are a bit more sturdy for holding clothing.

You will find high quality hangers made out of finer wood materials in high end retail stores that carry suits, coats, and other similar products. These are similar to the metal and plastic varieties but have a higher quality. There is speculation among historians, that the wooden clothes hanger was actually invented by Thomas Jefferson to be used at his residence Monticello. There are also formed hangers which will add shape to the shoulders of suits and coats. This style is made in plastic as well as other materials.

It’s amazing that this extremely basic instrument, can be such a big part of our daily lives. A closet full of wrinkle free clothes, is something that we have all come to expect.

Now, Miron has written other articles on hangers. Be sure to check out either black plastic hanger or travel coat hanger!