Who invented the coat hook

In , fellow American Schuyler Hulett, used cardboard tubes mounted on the upper and lower parts of the wire to prevent unsightly wrinkles.

This adaptation was added to by Elmer D Rogers who created a hanger with a tube on the lower bar which is still used today. Despite the success of the simple wire hanger, the more luxurious wooden hanger also saw its developments. In , a tailor from Grand Rapids in Michigan became the first retailer to display his wares on his wishbone-inspired hangers. The humble clothes hanger has seen a few changes since the early 20th century.

Now, thanks to modern designs, new manufacturing processes and a broader range of materials, the variety of this essential item on the market today is extensive. Most of us use them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This invention has given us the ability to evolve in today's consumerist society - enabling us to buy more precious clothing from our fashion conscious cities and storing them in our over crowded dwelling spaces. So have you ever stopped to consider where the clothes hanger originally came from?

Who originally invented this humble little device? What year was it invented? North of Connecticut, USA in So pretty recently really. Early attempts to develop a coat hanger into a practical hanging device soon developed with a variety of patents being filed with the US patents office.

This early device below appears like it could have been used in conjunction with the clothes hook. Thanks for Reading. At the very beginning of the 20 th century, the hanger evolved to more closely resemble the tool we use today. In Jackson, Mississippi, a man named Albert J. Parkhouse worked at the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company. While there, he figured out that a piece of sturdy wire could be twisted to form a useful contraption for hanging clothes, especially coats. His shape featured two ovals on either end, twisted in the center with a hook shape at the top, which was perfect for attaching to a bar, wall hook, or any number of other places.

In order to make hangers stronger and sturdier, some people began adding wooden reinforcements in the middle especially. Remember that the wire was bendable, and clothing tended to be heavier in the early 20 th century than it is today.

The year was another important evolutionary moment for the hanger. A man named Schuyler C. Hulett added inexpensive cardboard to the wire in order to further prevent wrinkling.

To this day, many if not most dry cleaning companies still use a version of this wire and cardboard design. Two important developments occurred in the s. First, in , Gerhard Wieckmann patented a new hanger design with a wire hook and wooden frame. His innovation prevented wrinkling and solved some other issues with the older design.

The second was in , when J. Batts patented an inexpensive molded plastic hanger. While plastics had been invented much earlier, they really took off in the s. Cite this Article Format. Bellis, Mary. The Invention of the Coat Hanger. Important Innovations and Inventions, Past and Present.

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