Hangers
Hangers ( ) are household appliances that are used to hang items of clothing in cupboards or in cloakrooms . They are modeled on the shape of human shoulders and are used to hang up and stow outer clothing such as coats and jackets , but also shirts and blouses . Often they still have a crossbar from which trousers can be hung. Some hanger variants are also designed exclusively for trousers. With the hook in the middle, the clothes hangers are then lined up on a rod to save space, usually in a wardrobe. This enables quick searches without causing creases in clothing.
Industrial coat hangers are transport and presentation means made of plastic . With the relocation of clothing production to Eastern Europe and Asia, the clothing is transported as hanging garments over long distances and used on these hangers as presentation hangers directly in the stores. This reduces the logistics costs and there is no need to "re-iron" into a pure presentation bracket. Companies use these hangers by applying brand logos for advertising purposes.
history
The coat hanger as we know it has its origins in central Europe in the 16th century. The first hangers were developed from wooden chests to store items of clothing for uniforms. They were massive wooden hangers with upturned ends that served to support the weighty epaulettes on the uniform jacket. For valuable garments, other ironing models were later developed; they were a privilege of the nobility and clergy. At that time, the common people hung their jackets on (mostly wooden) hooks. The high jacket collars appeared around 1800, and the hanger shape was changed and adapted accordingly. In this case, supportive counterbows were developed to keep the collars in shape.
The hangers with long wooden sticks attached under the hook also date from the pre-industrial era . With the help of these long sticks, the hangers could be hung on a pole in high rooms. This type of suspension was preferred to protect clothes in the then existing closets of a house from mice and / or rats . At the same time, this type of ironing was also used to dry damp clothing over heat sources (e.g. residual embers over fireplaces).
It was only around 1850 that hangers began to be used for clothes. The reason for this were the sweeping women's clothes of the Victorian era . At that time, the temples were made of wire , and from a modern point of view mostly absurd constructions. Just a simple wire form, invented in 1903 by the American Albert J. Parkhouse, an employee of the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company in Jackson , Michigan , has survived into the 21st century. Different stories are passed down of how this invention came about. One says that he couldn't find a free hook on the wall for his coat, so he made a hanger out of a piece of wire. The other attributes the invention to the fact that the production of wooden hangers did not meet demand. The patent for this was applied for on January 25, 1904 by Parkhouse boss and company owner John B. Timberlake. The company made a fortune while Parkhouse went empty-handed.
The first manufacturer of wooden clothes hangers in Germany was L. Sakowski, founded in 1878 in Berlin (Northeast, Palisadenstrasse) and in 1888 the A. Stephan & Co. factory from Berlin, Spittelmarkt , which was listed in the address book as “Unique Special Factory advertised the latest adjustable shop window furnishings, confectionary figures made according to the latest façons, roller stands, coat hangers and much more.
In addition, the Sinram & Wendt factory claimed to have been the first manufacturer of wooden clothes hangers in Germany. From 1898 they produced first in Hanover , later in Hameln . Other manufacturers of coat hangers later settled in the area around Hameln. In 1924, for example, Adolf Pieper opened an initially very small factory in Hameln that made wooden clothes hangers.
Also in the 1920s, the Ludwig Epstein company in Berlin-Schöneberg began to manufacture coat hangers based on an imperial patent. In Berlin there were steadily new factories for clothes hangers from the 1920s, the address book of 1929 shows 13 such manufacturers alone. In the 1940s and later, trouser clamps were made of beech wood and metal, bearing the name Union 3 and the reference DRP (= German Reichs Patent).
After the Second World War , Adolf Pieper's business in Hameln expanded, and the production of plastic coat hangers began in the 1970s.
In 1948 Martin Wagner founded the MAWA metal goods factory in Pfaffenhofen . Shortly afterwards he developed the first trouser tensioner. A little later, the company marketed the Rockspanner and achieved worldwide fame and recognition. Various patents in the bracket area continued this success story until Martin Wagner's death in 1963. MAWA developed the first anti-slip coating for metal hangers as well as an innovative function for the clip hanger (clip hanger) derived from clothespins . In the Ore Mountains as well as in Bohemia, some clothes hanger factories were also built around 1900, some of which were relocated to western Germany after the Second World War.
Eberhard Rhode from Berlin put together a large collection of over 2,800 clothes hangers. He researched the cultural history of clothes hangers and founded the "pertiology" (the knowledge of ironing).
Bracket types
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Wire hangers can damage the garments as they do not have broad, rounded edges like models made of wood. To avoid this, there are elaborate wire hangers that are covered with fabric , velvet or plastic . Plastic hangers have been very common since the end of the 20th century. They often replicate the classic shape of the wooden hangers, but are cheaper to produce and are therefore mainly used in large fashion stores .
The traditional solid wood clothes hangers are mainly used in hotels (from the upper middle class), as well as in upscale clothing stores . In the latter, the proportion has increased significantly in recent years due to the introduction of shop-in-shop systems . The clothing manufacturers try to differentiate themselves visually from the competition and to make the products appear more elegant.
In 1960s developed in Denmark the Dansk Bojlefabrik and in Sweden the company Formtrae hanger plywood . They are formed from veneers and have a solid wood core. Both the Danish and the Swedish company claimed to be the inventor of these new temples, which combine beauty and inexpensive manufacturing. In the mid-1980s, the Danish company was sold to Adolf Pieper ( pieper concept ) in Hameln . From then on, these plywood clothes hangers were manufactured in Germany under the name plywood clothes hangers and sold worldwide. Chinese companies have been producing this product since around 2004 and flooding the market with cheap offers, as a result of which production in Germany and Sweden fell steadily. In 2006, the production of plywood clothes hangers in Germany was completely discontinued.
At the beginning of the 1960s, the Coronet company produced the first plastic coat hangers in Germany. In the wake of increasing demands from clothing manufacturers and department store groups, more plastic hangers were developed as means of transport and presentation. The plastic hangers run through the entire logistical textile chain from the production of the clothing to hanging shipping and conveyor systems to the point of sale .
Due to the high quality, these hangers can be used multiple times. To do this, they are picked up from the sales outlets, sorted and put back into circulation. Non-reusable hangers are ground up and the raw material used, polystyrene, is largely recovered. New clothes hangers or other plastic products can be made from this.
As early as the mid-1950s, MAWA brought metal trouser and skirt tensioners (later with anti-slip coating) onto the market. At that time, these products were not only bought and used by clothing manufacturers , but also by end consumers in order to be able to carefully store the clothing, which was constantly increasing in value at the time. The company currently continues to produce all metal hangers at its headquarters in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm due to the large number of inventions in the area of hangers and innovations in the production area .
Trivia
As a special form of a coat hanger can also Breastfeeding / servant Valet see.
literature
- Daniel Rozensztroch: Cintres Hangers . Verlag le Passage, 2002, ISBN 2-84742-007-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ U.S. Patent Number 822,981, issued June 12, 1906 , accessed January 24, 2012.
- ↑ Theater plans, insurance and business advertisements . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1888, part 1, p. 89. “Fa. L. Sakowski; Coat hangers, roll stands and decoration stands ”.
- ↑ Theater plans, insurance and business advertisements . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1889, part 1, p. 54. “Fa. A. Stephan & Co. ".
- ^ Invoice of the L. Epstein clothes hanger factory from 1924 , on E-Bay , accessed on September 22, 2014.
- ↑ Manufacture of clothes hangers . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1929, Part II, Business Directory, p. 396.
- ↑ Union 3 trouser hanger on amazon.de; Such a bracket is owned by user: 44Penguins
- ↑ Michaela Schenk: clothes hangers from Pfaffenhofen. MAWA GmbH, accessed on August 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Barbara Bollwahn: The Interview - The Collector . In: taz . June 27, 2015, p. 46 .